We will keep making petrol cars as long as we can, says Aston Martin boss

Petrolhead: Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll said there would ‘always’ be demand for sports cars with petrol engines

The boss of Aston Martin said it will keep making petrol cars until it is forced to stop by regulators amid subdued demand for electric vehicles.

Chairman Lawrence Stroll said there would ‘always’ be demand for sports cars with petrol engines – such as its V8 and V12 models.

Like its rivals, the 111-year-old manufacturer will have to grapple with a ban on new petrol or diesel cars in Britain from 2035.

But Stroll has declared that his business would not give up on the gas-guzzling products until it had to.

‘We will continue to make them as long as we are allowed to make them. There will always be demand, albeit that will shrink,’ he said.

His remarks contrast with competitors such as Jaguar and Rolls-Royce, which have pledged to be fully electric within six years.

And it comes against a backdrop of fears that a transition to electric cars in Britain is being restrained because of a lack of available charging points.

In February, the manufacturer of James Bond’s cars delayed the launch of its first battery-powered electric vehicle (EV) by a year.

It had been scheduled for next year but will now go on sale in 2026 at the earliest.

At the time, Stroll, a Canadian billionaire who rescued the car maker in 2020 from collapse, said that ‘everything is in place’ apart from consumer appetite for EVs.

He said drivers wanted ‘some electrification’ but didn’t want to lose ‘the sports car smell and feel, and noise’.

Yesterday, he told The Times newspaper that it had been a ‘prudent decision’ to delay the EV programme.

EV sales crash at VW 

Sales of Volkswagen electric cars have plunged by almost a quarter in Europe as demand stalls.

Electric vehicle (EV) sales fell by 24 per cent in the first three months of the year for the German group as buyers flock back to cheaper petrol models.

Volkswagen sells some of the UK’s most popular EVs, including the Audi e-tron range and Volkswagen ID.

But recent data suggests that demand for petrol in the UK is climbing at a faster rate than for electric amid concerns over price and charging infrastructure.