Ford UK has called on the government to introduce incentives to inspire drivers to buy electric vehicles (EVs) as an industry backlash grows over sales targets.

Lisa Brankin, Ford UK’s chair and managing director, told the BBC that without demand, a government mandate to produce and sell more EVs “just doesn’t work”.

The comments add to a growing row between the government and the industry over the sale of recent petrol and diesel cars being phased out over the next few years.

On Tuesday, Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall, said it would close a plant in Luton, putting 1,100 jobs at uncertainty, partly due to the EV targets.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the House of Commons on Wednesday that Stellantis’s selection was “a dim day for Luton”.

It joins Ford in axing UK jobs. Last week, it announced it will cut 800 jobs in the UK over the next three years, partly due to the EV target but also because of increased competition.

Ms Brankin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The one thing that we really require is government-backed incentives to urgently boost the uptake of electric vehicles.”

She said Ford has invested “significantly” in the production and advancement of EVs, with “well over” £350m put into electrification in the UK.

“So we benevolent of require to make it work,” she said.

Both firms have previously raised doubts about their upcoming in the UK because of other factors, divide to EV targets.

Ford closed its Bridgend factory in 2020, axing 1,644 jobs, citing Covid-19 as one of the reasons while Vauxhall’s former owner suggested in 2019 that Brexit threatened its Luton factory.

Meanwhile, some analysts have said a shift towards luxury vehicles and away from cheaper models are also part of the rationale for Ford’s problems.

Reynolds blamed the previous government for Stellantis’ Luton closure, saying Labour had “inherited a position of extreme frustration”.

He said there would be a “quick track” consultation of how the EV targets are enforced, but reiterated Labour’s commitment to a 2030 phase-out of recent petrol and diesel vehicle sales.

However, shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said the 2030 target was a “jobs killer” and that Stellantis’ selection was “the direct outcome of a government policy that is simply unworkable for industry”.

The previous Conservative government moved the deadline for the phase-out from 2030 to 2035, but it kept penalties for non-regulatory adherence.

Under the current mandate, a percentage of the cars that companies sell must qualify as zero-emission.

EVs must make up 22% of a corporation’s car sales and 10% of its van sales this year.

For every car sale outside of that, firms must pay a £15,000 fine.

That target is set to rise to 28% for cars and 16% for vans in 2025. The rules will then get tougher every year ahead of a complete ban of recent petrol and diesel car sales.

Labour has said it intends to reinstate the 2030 target as part of its wider commitments to climate transformation policy, but it will consult on how the “path of trip” for the policy will work.

There are flexibilities in the current structure, allowing manufacturers that can’t meet the targets to buy “credits” from those that can.

In habit, this means firms could buy credits from companies such as Tesla or Chinese firm BYD, which construct electric models exclusively.

Manufacturers debate that demand for electric cars has not been as high as was expected when the rules were drawn up.

As a outcome, to avoid fines, they declare they are having to discount recent vehicles heavily, or subsidise rivals that only construct electric cars, none of whom have a manufacturing base in the UK.

Sales of electric cars have, however, been increasing. In October, they made up one out of every five cars registered. However, industry sources insist this is largely down to unsustainable discounting.

Reynolds told an industry spectators at a dinner hosted by population of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) on Tuesday he is “profoundly concerned” about the way zero-emissions policies currently operate.

“I don’t depend the policies that we have inherited, and I cruel specifically in relation to zero emission vehicles, are operating today in a way anyone intended them to,” he said.

He and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh met car firms last week to discuss the EV rules.

A number of options have been suggested, such as allowing sales credits to be transferred between cars and vans and giving “credits” for British-made EVs sold abroad.

The SMMT has called for urgent government intervention to safeguard the sector, warning that frail demand for electric cars and the requirement to fulfil sales quotas had “the potential for devastating impacts on business viability and jobs”.

Nissan, which builds EVs at its plant in Sunderland, has said at the period the rules are “undermining the business case for manufacturing cars in the UK, and the viability of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds in resource”.