UK car production improving but still below pre-pandemic levels

Since January, factories have produced an additional 47,037 units, which has been driven by exports that have risen 13.6 per cent to 359,940 units. Volumes for the UK rose 4.5 per cent to 90,228 units. However, year-to-date output remains -32.5 per cent below 2019 levels.

Production of hybrid electric (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were up 71.6 per cent from January to June to 170,231 units, representing 37.8 per cent of all cars produced so far this year.

The European Union (EU) remains the UK’s largest export market, accounting for 59.5 per cent of all British car shipments, which is up 11.2 per cent to 214,017 units on a year-to-date basis.

The US, China, Japan and Australia are the top global export territories for UK cars, followed by Turkey, South Korea, Canada, the UAE and Mexico. Shipments to most rose, apart from those to the US, down -0.1 per cent and China, which fell -6.4 per cent. Some of these key overseas markets are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to which the UK is now a party, and who have taken a cumulative 9.6 per cent of UK car exports so far this year. 

In a statement, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said, “UK car manufacturing is growing again, with production – especially of electrified models – increasing and major investment announcements making headlines. This is testament to the resilience of the sector and its undoubted strengths – a skilled and productive workforce, world-class R&D, and efficient, productive plants. But we must build on this momentum, sustain growth and attract further investments with a strategy that focuses on competitiveness and which strengthens the UK’s unique automotive offering.”

The latest independent production outlook shows the potential for UK vehicle manufacturing output. Total UK car production is expected to reach around 860,000 units this year, an uplift of 10.9 per cent on 2022, as the sector recovers from three Covid years, with the possibility to get back to near a million cars in 2028. That volume will be electrified, with a 10-fold rise in annual BEV production anticipated, to more than 750,000 units per year by 2030.