Premium car brands will no longer be available via Motobility – a programme that helps disabled people in the UK lease vehicles using their government benefits.
Car makers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are being “removed immediately”, Motability Operations confirmed on Monday evening (24 November).
The part-taxpayer-funded scheme is being revised to focus on cars that “meet disabled peoples’ needs and represent value and purpose”. Such cars, which are individually adapted, include the Renault Clio, Dacia Jogger and Citroën ë-C3.
The news comes just weeks after chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to axe luxury cars from the programme, in an effort to save £1 billion a year, according to reports.
This cost-saving also includes removing VAT exemptions – something that Motability users have warned will result in “severe” consequences for them.
Motability Operations buys cars and leases them to people with a qualifying disability allowance of £75.75 per week.
The package includes road tax, servicing, insurance, breakdown cover and tyre and windscreen repair. Some cars also need adapting to support individual users’ needs.
Motability has become a major player in the UK car market since its 1977 foundation and now the charity has a fleet of more than 800,000 cars.
As it removes premium car brands from its stable, Motability Operations will look to buy more British-made vehicles – and has promised that half of its fleet will be so by 2035.
These will include cars from Nissan, Mini and Toyota and van-based Vauxhall MPVs. The Sunderland-built Nissan Juke, for example, is currently one of the most popular vehicles on the scheme.
This, said Motability Operations CEO Andrew Miller, will “do even more to support the economy, and our ambitious commitment should put British car manufacturing into top gear”.
Reeves said that “backing British car manufacturing will support thousands of well-paid, skilled jobs”.
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