Kia Motors dealers in Spain are not allowed to sell pure battery electric cars or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) until the first day of next year under new management instructions.

In a letter sent to the entire dealership network of Kia Motors in Spain, the director of planning and logistics, Javier Casado, urged dealers to postpone invoicing EVs and PHEVs as of 1 October and delay the registration of the same type of vehicles as from 1 November. All these ‘obligations’, the letter reads, are ‘unavoidable’ and must be observed ‘without exception’. The sales ‘restrictions will be eliminated as of 01 January 2020’.

This new evidence proves what T&E has been saying for months now: carmarkers have been delaying the sales of cleaner cars until the new CO2 standards kick in 2020. Kia is waiting until literally the last possible date, the final day of the year. The tactic by carmakers is delaying more European drivers getting electric cars in an attempt to maximise SUV-fueled profits.

Julia Poliscanova, clean vehicles director at T&E, said: ‘Carmakers have been crying wolf that demand for electric cars is not there, that customers don’t want to buy cleaner cars. The reality is that carmakers have been holding back sales of EVs in order to squeeze every last drop of petrol and diesel cars. This letter is just another proof of it.’

Read more: Transport & Environment