Motorists keen to pick up a new car in the next few months could be left feeling disappointed, as major car makers have begun rationing sales of petrol and hybrid vehicles in the UK to avoid hefty net zero fines, according to one of the country’s biggest dealerships.

Robert Forrester, chief executive of Vertu Motors, told the Telegraph that manufacturers were delaying deliveries of cars until next year amid fears in order to stay within set limits on sales imposed by the government.

This means that anyone ordering a new car in September may not even see it until February under the current system.

Additionally, Mr Forrester also warned that manufacturers and dealerships alike were struggling under the weight of trying to sell more expensive electric vehicles (EVs) that are “not easily finding homes”, as more people are keen to hold onto petrol and hybrid cars rather than shifting to fully electric vehicles.

He told the publication: “In some franchises there’s a restriction on supply of petrol cars and hybrid cars, which is actually where the demand is. It’s almost as if we can’t supply the cars that people want, but we’ve got plenty of the cars that maybe they don’t want."

“They [manufacturers] are trying to avoid the fines. So they’re constraining the ability for us to supply petrol cars in order to try and keep to the government targets.”

In his opinion the current restriction is solely the fault of the government, with the chief executive going on to blame the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which means 22 percent of all cars from manufacturers must be electric by this year.

Under the current plans to cut carbon emissions, this target is set to rise year on year, before 80 percent of all cars made being electric by 2030 - now just six years away.

In addition, for every car that is sold that goes over this quota, companies must pay £15,000, unless the company itself has carbon credits to spend to offset this.

While the aim of the scheme is to encourage a more environmentally sustainable approach to transport, it hasn’t come without its criticisms from other major brand owners, including Vauxhall’s owner Stellantis and Ford, who have argue that they can’t sacrifice profits indefinitely by selling EV’s at hefty discounts simply to meet quotas and shift stock.

Instead, they warned they may be forced to restrict petrol car supplies in order to improve their ZEV mandate performance - something which Mr.Forrester’s comments suggest may have now come to be a reality.

Under the ZEV mandates, electric vehicle prices may drop in order to meet the quotas, but this is far from the gift horse it appears to be, as Mr.Forrester also went on to warn that forcing car manufacturers to “discount EVs to such an extent that they’re making losses is not a good thing for business”.

In fact, he even doubled down on his criticism of the government over the scheme, adding: “What the Government’s actually doing is constraining the new car market, which has a big impact on VAT receipts for them, and creates a business environment in the UK where manufacturers may question whether they want to make cars here.

“As Carlos Tavares [chief executive of Stellantis] has said, why should they sell cars at a loss because of UK government policy? The new car market is no longer a market, unfortunately. It’s a state-imposed supply chain.”

The comments came after Vertu revealed it expected to report lower first half profits as demand for new cars and more expensive electric vehicles remained under pressure. However, by contrast used car sales had increased, with September also forecast to see a huge spike in shoppers hunting for second-hand vehicles.

According to the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new electric car sales are expected to slow over the next few months due to a decrease in demand, with electric vehicles set to make up just 18.5 percent of cars sold this year.