UK should scrap ‘stupid’ ban on petrol cars to close EU trade deal, says Renault boss

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Croft, A. (2026, October 17). UK should scrap ‘stupid’ ban on petrol cars to close EU trade deal, says Renault boss. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/petrol-diesel-cars-ban-renault-francois-provost-b3068625.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-10-17 · by Alex Croft

Quick Summary

Renault CEO François Provost told The Sunday Times that the UK should reconsider its ban on petrol and diesel car sales by 2030 to secure a trade deal with the EU's "Made in Europe" programme. Provost argues this ban is "stupid," suggesting it could hinder the country’s inclusion in the scheme, which requires alignment with EU regulations, including tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The UK government has indicated that participation would be beneficial for its automotive industry but emphasizes that decisions will prioritize national interests.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-17, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Renault CEO François Provost has called on the UK to scrap its ban on petrol and diesel cars, which is set to end sales by 2030 while permitting hybrid car sales until 2035. Provost made this statement during an interview with The Sunday Times in order for the UK to join the EU's Made in Europe industrial programme. Despite Downing Street stating that joining the programme would be "good news" for Britain’s car industry, a report from The Guardian suggests the inclusion may depend on aligning tariffs for Chinese-made electric vehicles, which the UK has resisted implementing.

Written for “Renault Boss Criticizes UK Car Ban” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 87766: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-17

Story

📰 Renault Boss Criticizes UK Car Ban
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 2502 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Alex Croft
35 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Downing Street has said inclusion in the EU’s Made in Europe scheme would be “good news” for Britain’s car industry, despite a report in The Guardian suggesting it would be conditional on Britain aligning with the EU’s position on tariffs for Chinese-made electric vehicles.
🔮 Ukrainians fear the growing rift between Washington and Kyiv could have severe consequences on the battlefield, where the Ukrainian military still depends on technology provided by the US.
🔮 President Donald Trump has claimed that he could “murder” someone without losing the backing of one of his faithful supporters.
🔮 “In fact, I think it reveals the contempt the Commission has for democratic processes in Europe,” she said, although accepted that her promise to cut France’s contribution to the EU budget would be difficult.
🔮 The Neom project, which originally planned to see more than £363bn would be pumped into the construction of The Line, a 170km-long megacity, along with a mountain ski resort, several coastal resorts and an industrial zone along the coast of the Red Sea,
🔮 This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is set to be unveiled this Friday, and the field appears to be wide open.
🔮 This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is set to be unveiled this Friday, and the field appears to be wide open.
🔮 Education minister Édouard Geffray later said he would be meeting with union representatives on Friday, with the goal to “turn these exchanges into concrete progress in service of the students, the staff, and the Schools”.
🔮 Mayor Jean Menvielle told La Depeche that he was “someone very discreet who was rarely seen in the town”, adding of he and his wife: "They were unassuming people who lived their lives without getting too involved with the community.”
🔮 US president Donald Trump claimed the alleged plot was “looking to do big damage” to the US bombers that are held on the base, with numerous reports that British authorities are looking into whether Iran could be linked to the plot.
Also by Alex Croft
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 35 articles by Alex Croft →

Topics

Britain Chinese Made in Europe Renault the Industrial Accelerator Act

Subjects

Chinese NORP · 4× Britain GPE · 3× Made in Europe ORG · 3× Provost PERSON · 3× British NORP · 2× Renault ORG · 2× François Provost PERSON · 1× Independent NORP · 1× The Sunday Times ORG · 1× the European Union ORG · 1×

Narrative

Downing Street has said inclusion in the EU’s Made in Europe scheme would be “good news” for Britain’s car industry, despite a report in The Guardian suggesting it would be conditional on Britain aligning with the EU’s position on tariffs for Chinese-made electric vehicles.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 Downing Street has said inclusion in the EU’s Made in Europe scheme would be “good news” for Britain’s car industry, despite a report in The Guardian suggesting it would be conditional on Britain aligning with the EU’s position on tariffs for Chinese-made electric vehicles.

Claims (16 extracted, 2 hedged)

The UK should get rid of a “stupid” ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars in order to close a trade deal with the European Union, the chief of Renault has said. asserted
chief → rid → Renault
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Renault CEO François Provost said if the UK wishes to join the EU’s Made in Europe industrial programme it should rethink the current pledge to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, while permitting hybrid car sales until 2035. asserted
it → speak → 2035
“What is a good date for 100 per cent electric?” Mr Provost said. asserted
Provost → say → cent
“There is no good date because it’s stupid to ban non-electric cars. asserted
it → be → cars
Downing Street has said inclusion in the EU’s Made in Europe scheme would be “good news” for Britain’s car industry, despite a report in The Guardian suggesting it would be conditional on Britain aligning with the EU’s position on tariffs for Chinese-made electric vehicles. asserted
Britain → say → vehicles
So far, Britain has resisted pressure from Europe to impose such tariffs, with trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds saying decisions on tariffs would be “based on the UK interest”. asserted
decisions → resist → interest
But Mr Provost said the UK would need to fall in line with tariffs on Chinese imports if it wanted access to the scheme. asserted
it → say → scheme
France and Germany have reportedly put forward a proposal to allow the UK’s automotive industry to be included in the protectionist scheme, known formally as the Industrial Accelerator Act. uncertain
industry → put → Act
Asked about the reports on Friday, a Number 10 spokesperson said the government would “welcome the objective to have the UK included in the Industrial Accelerator Act”. asserted
UK → ask → Act
She said it would be “good news for the British automotive industry and the jobs and investment it supports across the UK” but that there is “still a European process to run”. asserted
it → say → UK
Mr Provost said the UK’s automotive industry is at a “kind of tipping point”: “Obviously the UK has to be together with the EU. asserted
UK → say → EU
But he said industrial ambition for Europe’s car industry means being “realistic on electrification, but to continue electrification”, adding: “We have to freeze regulations now in order to decrease the price paid by customers.” asserted
We → say → customers
Andy Burnham warned earlier this week that the Made in Europe scheme presented “risks to British manufacturing” and promised to raise concerns about its impact on UK automotive firms with the bloc. asserted
scheme → warn → bloc
The programme is intended to protect clean technology firms and electric vehicle manufacturers from cheap Chinese competition. asserted
programme → intend → competition
The EU has already moved to limit imports of Chinese electric vehicles, including by imposing tariffs, and replicating those levies could be the price of the UK’s inclusion in Made in Europe. uncertain
replicating → move → Europe
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been contacted for comment. asserted
Department → contact → comment
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support