The company has confirmed that it has ended European operations, which were led by European sales and marketing director Gary Whittam, as part of a complete closure of the company for restructuring.
Azure vice-president of marketing Mike Elwood told What Van? that the firm had built around 500 Azure Dynamics Ford Transit Connect electric vehicles, over half of which were sold in America, leaving “around 230-240 sold in Europe". A Ford UK spokeswoman said “a very small number” had been sold in the UK, and the company was working to establish how to service these customers.
When asked about whether Azure would recommence European operations, Elwood said: “There is a future for Azure, we’re not sure where but there is a future for Azure and hopefully that will be in Europe.” He was also hoping to retain the relationship with Ford that had seen the launch of the £39,995 Connect EV, which recently became eligible for a new electric vehicle discount.
The Department for Transport has claimed the demise of Azure will not damage the Plug-in Van Grant scheme that it launched this year.
Azure’s Transit was one of the first seven vans to gain eligibility for the grant, which gives buyers a 20% discount off the new price up to the value of £8000.
A spokeswoman for the DfT said: “It doesn’t affect the scheme. There’s no set number of vans that have to be eligible. More will be added on as they come to market.”
