RAY MASSEY: It’s time to seek the advice of my trusty crystal ball for 2025’s motoring predictions

Each New Year brings with it the chance to take stock of the past 12 months and look forward to the many opportunities ahead. So here are my predictions…

1) Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will water down elements of the controversial ZEV Mandate, which insists 28 per cent of cars sold next year must be fully electric (up from 22 per cent this year) – rising to 100 per cent by 2035.

Failure to hit those targets means manufacturers are fined £15,000 per car sold in breach of the limit. That suggests many EVs are being sold at a loss.

The minister announced a ‘fast-track’ review of the controversial targets at November’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ annual dinner – where, hours earlier, Vauxhall announced it was shutting its Luton electric van plant, with more than 1,100 jobs at risk. Nissan’s plant in Sunderland is also looking shaky.

Humiliated by the sudden news, Reynolds admitted he was ‘profoundly concerned’ by how the mandate was working, telling 1,000 guests he had heard them ‘loud and clear’. On Christmas Eve, the Government sneaked out a formal consultation (open until February 18) on the ZEV mandate to examine ‘current arrangements and flexibilities’.

So expect wiggle room for car firms to potentially be allowed to count EVs that they export, not just those sold here.

Looking ahead: The BYD Sealion 7 crossover launches next year

The consultation also seeks views on restoring the 2030 deadline to stop new petrol and diesel car sales. But expect plug-in hybrid cars (and maybe some hybrids) to be exempt until 2035. However, don’t anticipate consumer discounts for EVs. SMMT chief Mike Hawes warned that ‘such incentives are unsustainable – industry cannot deliver the UK’s world-leading ambitions alone’.

2) Keep your eye on China as it exploits such weaknesses to export huge numbers of more affordable electric cars to the UK.

Chinese giant BYD has a range of electrified cars such as the Dolphin hatchback (from around £26,000), Seal SUV (£46,000) and Sealion 7 crossover landing next year from £44,990.

‹ Slide me ›

And from February, brace yourself for the GWM Haval Jolion Pro Hybrid – priced between £23,995 and £29,995. Tariffs, as already imposed by the US and EU, have so far been dismissed in the UK as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer cosies up to the Chinese leadership.

3) Then there’s Jaguar.

Or should that be ‘jaGuar’ after its rebranding caused a global meltdown? Nevertheless, I wish the firm well.

The electric ‘jaGuar’ GT concept car looks bold and exciting and, despite the ‘woke’ marketing debacle, has grown on me – though the ‘copy of nothing’ claim is a stretch. But we’ll have to wait until later next year to see production models, and until 2026 to see them on sale.

4) I also predict the war on the nation’s hard-pressed motorists will continue unabated – with more cash-raising cameras to enforce 20mph zones and other speed limits, parking zones and bus lanes.

Whatever the future may bring, a Happy New Year to all.