PROPOSALS to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 have met with a positive reaction from local car dealers and manufacturers.

With concerns about air quality on the increase, the Government has pledged to restrict the sales of fossil-fuelled vehicles – which some in the car industry are viewing as an opportunity.

“Manufacturers are working like mad to get this technology there,” said Matthew Coles, the dealer principal at Johnson’s of Swindon. One of their manufacturer brands, Volvo, has already announced that from 2019 it will stop producing solely petrol- or diesel-powered cars, moving instead to hybrid and electric vehicles.

Asked whether the proposed changes would affect sales, he said: “I don’t know if the impact is going to be positive or negative. I generally don’t think that it’s something that you should start pressing the panic button on. What it will have an impact on is the cost of running vehicles and on the environment.”

He remained confident that technology is improving quickly enough to handle the change.

“If you look at technological developments over the last 20 years, they were OK. But look what has developed in in the last 5 years. It’s been huge progress, the technology is coming on leaps and bounds,” said Mr Coles.

“We may find that there are manufacturers working on hydrogen-powered cars, or that with natural resources like the sun, we may be in a position where we don’t have to pay to run cars if they’re solar-powered.”

The positive reaction was echoed by BMW, one of the region’s biggest manufactures. A BMW spokesman said: “We see electric powertrains as the future for our industry as evidenced by the fact that the BMW Group already offers the widest range of electrified vehicles, with further electrified models soon to join the line-up.

“The BMW Group will sell more than 100,000 electrified vehicles worldwide this year, up from 62,000 in 2016, and we expect this growth in electric demand to accelerate.

“From 2020, every BMW Group model line will be enabled to offer customers a fully-electric powertrain option.”

The news comes after BMW announced this week that their new electric Mini would be built at Cowley, securing the future of panel pressing at Plant Swindon.

The company’s new battery-electric cars will go into production at the Oxford plant from 2019. A BMW spokesman said: “It’s great news that Plant Swindon will have a part to play in this exciting new electric Mini. As Swindon supplies a significant percentage of pressings and of the sub-assemblies for Oxford, it will therefore also provide the parts for this electric variant of the Mini 3 door.”

The decision was welcomed by representatives from union Unite’s Swindon branch. A spokesman said: “This is good news as it secures work for our members. In these uncertain times this announcement provides some much needed security for the workforce.”

However, Andy Bentley of the Swindon Green Party said that, while welcome, the plans lacked ambition. “The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has said that automotive companies have already been preparing for this.By 2040 the market for fossil fuel cars will be diminishing anyway.

“The cost of buying an electric car is falling fast and they are already cheaper to run. Companies like Volvo are already announcing the end of these old-technology cars.

“The Government should be putting a lot of focus on the infrastructure to allow the move to happen a lot sooner.”