Car production falls for the eighth month in a row, says motoring body

SMMT figures amusement that UK factories made 15.3% less cars successful October this twelvemonth compared to the aforesaid period successful 2023

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has revealed that the accumulation of cars successful Britain has dropped for the eighth period successful a row.

The commercialized assemblage recovered that UK factories produced 15.3% less cars successful October this twelvemonth compared to October 2023. From January to October 2024, 670,346 units were manufactured successful the UK, marking a 10.8% alteration from the aforesaid play successful 2023.

The SMMT attributed this diminution chiefly to a driblet successful exports. It besides noted that the existent marketplace for caller cars is anemic successful some the UK and the European Union, with the EU marketplace lone increasing by 0.7% betwixt January and October this year.

While the fig of cars produced for home usage accrued by 5.3%, exports fell by 14.8% successful the archetypal 10 months of 2024 compared to past twelvemonth – equivalent to 89,095 less cars being shipped overseas.

The SMMT said these figures travel arsenic plants proceed "their retooling to alteration accumulation of the adjacent procreation of zero emanation vehicles". Around a 3rd of the cars made successful Britain successful October this twelvemonth were artillery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric.

Mike Hawes, SMMT main executive, expressed his concern, stating: "These are profoundly concerning times for the automotive industry, with monolithic investments successful plants and caller zero emanation products nether aggravated pressure. Slowdowns successful the planetary marketplace – particularly for EVs (electric vehicles) – are impacting accumulation output, with the concern successful the UK peculiarly acute fixed we person arguably the toughest targets and astir accelerated timeline but without the user incentives indispensable to thrust demand."

"The outgo of stimulating that request and complying with those targets is immense and, arsenic we are seeing, unsustainable. Urgent enactment is truthful needed and we volition enactment with Government connected its accelerated reappraisal of the regularisation and the improvement of an ambitious and broad concern strategy to guarantee our competitiveness."

The SMMT has indicated a sobering forecast for British car manufacturing, stating that "the latest figures person downgraded expectations for UK car and airy van production". According to the manufacture body, factories crossed Britain are present projected to nutrient astir 911,000 vehicles this twelvemonth and 839,000 successful 2025 – importantly little than the astir 1.4 cardinal cars and airy vans manufactured successful 2019 earlier the onslaught of the Covid pandemic.

Highlighting the committedness of manufacturers towards greener accumulation methods, the SMMT reported: "Manufacturers announced much than £20billion worthy of concern past twelvemonth to thrust their modulation to EV production, a monolithic sum demonstrating the industry’s committedness to nett zero.

"If planned UK zero emanation exemplary launches enactment connected way and user request improves, determination is imaginable to get supra 1 cardinal units successful 2028. If not, output would stay beneath 1 cardinal units until 2030, and successful a worst-case script driblet to less than 750,000 should plants adjacent and others person reduced exemplary line-ups, which would person a devastating effect connected the sector, jobs and economical growth."

It continued: "Ensuring the UK remains a globally competitory determination for precocious conveyance manufacturing, therefore, requires an concern and commercialized strategy that works for the assemblage and, successful addition, a steadfast home market, fixed car makers physique adjacent to wherever they sell."

The connection concluded with a nudge astatine argumentation makers: "Government indispensable enactment successful concern with manufacture to present marketplace regulations that enactment consumers and industry, including measures to code the UK’s precocious outgo of vigor and the signing of commercialized deals built connected escaped and just trade."