Car manufacturers are having to ration the sales of petrol and hybrid cars in the UK to avoid falling foul of the government’s rules on zero emission vehicle sales, according to the boss of one of Britain’s biggest dealership chains.Vertu Motors chief executive Robert Forrester claims vehicle makers are operating under a ‘state-imposed supply chain’ preventing them from selling the cars customers want.As a result, he claims manufacturers are having to deliberately withhold cars from customers for months – with some waiting until next February to get cars they are ordering today. Passed into law under the Conservative government, the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate requires 22 per cent of all vehicles to be sold this year to be zero-emission – covering the likes of electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars.The target rises every single year, hitting a milestone of 80 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035. Car makers that exceed their quota will have to pay a fine of £15,000 per non-compliant – i.e. petrol and diesel – car to the government. Vertu Motors CEO Robert Forrester claims car manufacturers’ sales are being throttled in the UK because of new rules on electric vehicle sales Nissan, which produces cars in Sunderland, is one of the companies that lobbied the government to delay the rollout of the ZEV mandateCar makers have previously criticised the ZEV mandate rollout, claiming it could force them to quit the UK – but Mr Forrester’s comments are the first sign the scheme is directly affecting British motorists.Vertu Motors, which operates franchises selling cars from a variety of manufacturers including Jaguar, Honda, BMW and Kia, says many car makers are struggling to shift enough electric vehicles amid a dip in demand.In remarks reported by the Telegraph, Mr Forrester said: ‘It’s almost as if we can’t supply the cars that people want, but we’ve got plenty of the cars that maybe they don’t want.’They (manufacturers) are trying to avoid the fines. So they’re constraining the ability for us to supply petrol cars in order to try and keep to the government targets.’Manufacturers warned earlier this year the ZEV mandate would potentially constrain the number of cars companies can sell in the UK – limiting the range of vehicles available to drivers.But there are also consequences for the government – namely a hit to its VAT receipts from each new car sale. Carlos Tavares, the chief executive of Stellantis – the group that owns Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Vauxhall and other big makes – warned in April he could not afford to keep selling electric vehicles at heavy discounts in order to encourage sales.He said the mandate law was ‘terrible for the UK’, adding: ‘I’m not going to sell cars at a loss.’Vertu boss Mr Forrester added: ‘As Carlos Tavares said, why should they sell cars at a loss because of UK government policy?’The new car market is no longer a market, unfortunately. It’s a state-imposed supply chain.’Car manufacturers are not opposed to reducing the number of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles they produce. Many car firms have committed to creating fully zero-emission line-ups in the future but say the government’s 2035 deadline is too soon. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak pushed the zero-emission target back five years in September 2023 amid pressure from the motor industry and drivers’ organisations.A report published by the Guardian in January suggested Nissan, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover were among the manufacturers who had pleaded with Whitehall to delay the enforcement of the policy.The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a trade body representing the UK car industry, expects just 18.5 per cent of new car sales to be purely electric, down from an earlier prediction of 19.8 per cent.As of July, electric vehicle sales made up around 16.8 per cent of all new car sales in the UK in 2024. This does not include hybrid vehicles, including plug-in hybrids with larger batteries. Vertu says its new car sales are down 5.8 per cent in the five months to the end of July, but strong demand for used motors. The SMMT says used sales are largely being driven by demand for electric cars, which depreciate heavily after being purchased from new.The Department for Transport was contacted for comment.