The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has called on new prime minister Rishi Sunak and the government to create a competitive business environment for the automotive industry after UK car production suffered its first drop in four months in September.
A total of 63,125 cars left UK factories last month, which is a 12.6% fall compared with September 2021 and 47.7% down on pre-pandemic September 2019. Overall in 2022, output is down 12.6% year on year at 547,231 units.
The SMMT said the drop is largely due to “severe supply chain issues affecting manufacturers” and declining exports, which are down 16.9% year on year.
Despite the drop, electrified vehicle production claimed a record market share of 37.8%, up 9.9% month on month.
More than one in seven cars built in September were fully electric, with production rising by 16.6% to 8856 units. For the year to date, 52,888 BEVs have been produced in the UK - up by more than a fifth compared with the first nine months of 2021.
Around 78.4% of these cars were shipped overseas. The SMMT said electrified vehicle exports are now worth £7.9 billion to the UK economy, representing 36% of the UK’s total car export numbers.
BEV model exports in particular are now worth £1.3 billion, up 1457% compared with 2017.
The SMMT said a competitive framework for energy and business costs, covering supply chain security, energy prices and innovation, would help the UK’s car industry recover and “thrive” in the global economy.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Billions of pounds and thousands of jobs are dependent on the automotive sector and, increasingly, on electrified vehicle production. Despite the current challenges, our car makers remain resilient and are well placed to ramp up output of the latest, zero-emission vehicles, which will help drive an economic recovery, create jobs and boost growth.
“Success is not guaranteed, however, and to realise its potential, the UK sector must attract new investment – which means creating competitive investment conditions. Stability combined with a plan that tackles critical skills shortages, delivers regulatory certainty and brings down the cost of energy in the long-term can help put the UK at the forefront of next-generation automotive manufacturing.”
Richard Peberdy, KPMG's head of automotive in the UK, described the state of UK car manufacturing as “perilous”, adding that businesses are worried about “high and sustained inflation in energy, material and logistics costs”.
Peberdy said: “All this from a base line of throttled supply chains in key components and of course the costs and disruption of the Covid years.
Add your comment