UK car production collapses to lowest for 66 years

The fig of caller cars made successful the UK fell again sharply past twelvemonth plummeting to its lowest level since 1956.

The driblet marks a 10% autumn from the twelvemonth earlier which itself was a historical low.

A continuing planetary shortage successful semiconductor chips deed accumulation lines, manufacture assemblage the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said.

But car makers are acrophobic the UK has not yet got a strategy to marque the state competitory arsenic a destination for manufacturing investment.

The authorities said it was "determined" to guarantee the state remains a apical planetary determination for car manufacturing.

Manufacturers anticipation that they volition deed 1 cardinal vehicles again successful 2025 but getting to pre-pandemic levels would necessitate large concern and caller makers to travel to the UK.

Firms are disquieted that the UK is falling down the US and the EU erstwhile it comes to offering authorities assistance to manufacturers.

A precise important spot of US authorities - the Inflation Reduction Act - volition connection billions successful subsidies to car makers who make electrical conveyance proviso chains successful the US.

Mike Hawes, main enforcement of the SMMT, said this volition "hoover up" a batch of planetary investment.

An aggravated EU is considering retaliating by either explicitly relaxing authorities assistance rules oregon doing truthful nether the guise of extending Covid betterment oregon greenish technology-boosting programmes.

One of the benefits of Brexit was meant to beryllium escaping from the straitjacket of EU authorities assistance rules which constricted the magnitude of enactment governments could springiness to favoured industries.

Mr Hawes conceded the UK could beryllium successful the unenviable presumption of offering little enactment to important industries than we did earlier we near the EU.

The SMMT said the figures were impacted by the closure of Honda's mill successful Swindon successful July 2021 and the Vauxhall Astras nary longer being made astatine Ellesmere Port since April 2022.

Mr Hawes said that the figures reflected however "tough" 2022 was for UK car manufacturing, though the state had inactive made much electrical vehicles than ever before.

"The imaginable for this assemblage to present economical maturation by gathering much of these zero-emission models is self-evident; however, we indispensable marque the close decisions now," helium said.

"This means shaping a strategy to thrust accelerated upscaling of UK artillery accumulation and the displacement to electrical vehicles based connected the UK automotive sector's cardinal strengths - a highly skilled and flexible workforce, engineering excellence, method innovation and productivity levels that are among the champion successful Europe," helium added.

The figures besides showed that grounds levels of electrical cars were besides made successful the state past twelvemonth with astir a 3rd of each cars made afloat electrical oregon hybrid.

The SMMT said these cars would beryllium worthy £10bn successful exports alone.

However, past twelvemonth export volumes were down 14% compared to 2021, which was not capable to offset the UK measurement summation of 9.4% with astir 2 successful 10 cars sold successful the country.

UK car accumulation was further acceptable backmost by the illness of artillery start-up Britishvolt past week.

The steadfast had planned to physique a elephantine mill to marque electrical car batteries successful Blyth, Northumberland but it struggled to crook a nett and ran retired of money.

Plans for the £3.8bn mill successful Blyth were portion of a semipermanent imaginativeness to boost UK manufacturing of electrical conveyance batteries and make astir 3,000 skilled jobs.

The UK presently lone has 1 Chinese-owned artillery works adjacent to the Nissan mill successful Sunderland, portion 35 plants are planned oregon already nether operation successful the EU.

A authorities spokesperson said: "We are determined to guarantee the UK remains 1 of the champion locations successful the satellite for automotive manufacturing.

"Our occurrence is evidenced by the £1bn concern successful Sunderland successful 2021, and we are gathering connected this done a large concern programme to electrify our proviso concatenation and make jobs."