Major car dealership with hundreds of employees will down franchise in DAYS… and EVs are to blame
A HISTORIC Sheffield Jaguar dealer is set to close its doors in days – and EV sales are to blame, claim bosses.
Hartfields in Sheffield will shut up shop after being open for over a century.
Bosses say the failure to sell enough electric cars is the source of the devastating closure of their showroom, on Sharrow Vale Road.
The retailer’s electrification plans, which hopes to ditch ICE vehicles by 2025, was described by bosses as “the biggest change we have ever seen”.
As a result, the dealership looks set to close its doors permanently on October 1.
In a letter to customers, Hatfields’ managing director Gareth Williams said the Sheffield site would not be able to “make the leap into the future”.
He said: “Our facility in Sheffield is simply not capable of taking that leap into the future.
“It has been a great servant to the people of Sheffield for over 40 years and there have been some truly memorable events in our Sharrow Vale Road showrooms launching and celebrating iconic cars.”
The branch will now be merging with Hatfields’ Wakefield dealership, with a number of workers moving to work there.
It is unknown if there will be any redundancies following the move, the Sheffield Star reported.
It comes after a popular Ford model is set to be discontinued, with the manufacturer’s transitions to EVs at fault.
The industry giant is pivoting towards an all-electric future ahead of international bans on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.
The Ford Edge is expected to be the latest casualty of that process and is unlikely to be slated for renewal next year in Europe.
Elsewhere, two popular EVs have been recalled over a “fire risk” due to a serious battery fault.
A pair of major manufacturers came together to urge drivers to get their cars checked as they could burst into flames.
Porsche and Audi, which are both owned by the VW Group, warned customers that some of their models have a serious issue which could put them in danger.