Did Carmakers Use Brexit as a Bargaining Chip in EV Policy Battle?

Evidence from private lobbying documents suggests that carmakers, notably BMW, used the economic challenges of Brexit as a powerful bargaining chip in their successful battle to weaken the UK’s electric vehicle sales policy.
In its submission, BMW explicitly stated that the UK has “already become a far more difficult place to produce vehicles now post-Brexit.” By linking this pre-existing difficulty to the “radical” new EV mandate, the company created a narrative that the government was pushing the UK’s fragile auto sector too far.
This tactic effectively leveraged the political sensitivity around Brexit’s economic impact. It allowed the industry to argue that while they could perhaps cope with Brexit or a strict mandate, the combination of both was untenable and threatened UK jobs and competitiveness.
Critics argue this was a strategic move to exploit a point of national vulnerability. They suggest that instead of adapting to post-Brexit realities and green regulations, the industry used the situation to lobby for a less demanding environmental framework, ultimately slowing the country’s transition to cleaner transport.