The Government’s handling of the electric vehicle (EV) grants system has been “shambolic”, according to the head of Ford in Ireland.
John Manning said the various grants and incentives are being used as “political footballs”.
“If the grant is in this year, will it be in next year? It’s just shambolic. This is not what we need to do.
“I understand that they need to balance the fiscal books each year, but this is not about balancing budgets, but about balancing the environment. What we need to see is transparency and sustainability on what the plan is. We are invested fully in it.”
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Speaking at the Irish launch of the brand’s latest all-electric vehicle, the Explorer crossover, Mr Manning said the car firm had a major concern over the slow pace of development of recharging infrastructure in Ireland.
“When you think about the Government target for one million electric vehicles by 2030, to sustain that you need roughly between 95,000 and 110,000 EV fast charging points. At the last count we did last year there was roughly 2,500, though it may be closer to 5,000 now.” He says that’s still a long way from where we need to be.
Manning is also critical of the set-up at the various charging stations, complaining that most offer little shelter to motorists, while the cables are often fixed, “which takes no account of the different port locations on various cars or models”.
“The seems to be a complete disconnection between Government, regulators and planners on this. Ford and the rest of the industry are doing their part, bringing in the EV models. We’re bringing the product in, but we need to see more proactive action from government.
“We do welcome the announcement of €100 million in investment on public and private infrastructure, but so far that’s just a piece of paper. We really need to see more proactive action.”
Manning is calling for an increase in the grant for installing domestic charging points. “The grant has remained static for the last two to three years, and the world has changed, particularly with the cost-of-living crisis.” Manning reckons the grant should be closer to €1,000 rather than €600.
Addressing the slump in the brand’s new car sales in recent years, Manning points the radical overhaul of Ford internationally. While its commercial van sales have remained stable, with a 22.3 per cent share of that market making it the market leader, its new car business has fallen dramatically. Once a best-selling brand in Ireland, by 2018 Ford had a 9 per cent market share, which has now slipped below 5 per cent this year.
Part of this is down to Ford’s exit from its traditional markets, calling time on models such as Mondeo, S-Max, Galaxy, Fiesta and ending production of Focus in 2025.
“Ford is a different animal,” says Manning. “The days of volume share and chasing to be number one [are over]. It’s a nice thing to have but it’s not a priority. The priority is that we have to be a sustainable business. We have to make profit.”
Manning estimates that a sustainable new car market in Ireland would need to have 160,000 new registrations each year, compared with the current levels of between 100,000 and 120,000.
He also points to current Irish market practices that make those sales figures more flattering than they are in reality.
Manning estimates that currently 20 per cent of the current new car market “is a zero-sum game”.
“The rental market is 8.5 per cent today. The rental market basically in the normal trading terms, benefits the rental operator because of the discount structure. What does the volume brand get; they get the volume sales, but they don’t necessarily make money of those [registrations]. So Ford has exited from the rental system; we’ll do business with rental firms but on our terms.”
He also highlights trade registrations, known in the industry as pre-registrations, where dealers or distributors register a car before it’s actually sold to any customer. Often it is done to secure volume bonuses from manufacturers.
“If you look at the industry nearly 10 per cent are self-registrations; that means cars registered without customers at the back end. And that’s a false industry.
“I don’t think you need to be out of school five days to know that’s not a sustainable business solution.”
As part of its move towards selling only electric passenger car models from 2030, Ford will start deliveries of its new all-electric Explorer crossover on the Irish market next January. Similar in size to the current Kuga, the new EV shares much of its underpinnings with VW’s ID.4, due to an agreement between the two car giants on EV technology. It’s likely to be similarly priced as well, starting below €50,000, though the final pricing and technical details like range and charging time have yet to be confirmed.
