- British car manufacturing output rises 13.1% in February to
69,707 units.
- Volumes up for both home and overseas markets but exports
drive overall uplift.
- Hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicle output
surges again, up 72.2%, accounting for two in five cars produced
in the month.
- New SMMT member survey finds nine in 10 firms want measures
to deliver low cost, low carbon energy to help support transition
to zero emission technologies.
UK car production rose 13.1% in February, up to 69,707 units,
according to the latest figures published today by the Society of
Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Factories made an
additional 8,050 cars, with volumes buoyed by an easing of supply
chain shortages – notably of semiconductors – which have
bedevilled the global industry since the early months of 2021.
Production for both home and overseas markets rose by double
digits, up 20.3% and 11.5% respectively, with exports driving the
overall uplift. 56,634 cars were produced to fulfil global
orders, up from 50,786 a year before and accounting for 81.2% of
output, with the majority of these exports (59.6%) heading into
the UK’s largest trading partner, the EU.
Shipments to the EU rose 6.5%, helping to offset declines to the
US (-19.9%) and China (-21.6%), providing further evidence of the
need for continued free trade across the Channel. Exports to
Turkey, Japan, Australia and South Korea, meanwhile, also rose,
collectively by 85.0%, and together represented a total of 6,498
cars, or 11.5% of exports.
The UK’s automotive industrial transition to hybrid, plug-in
hybrid and battery electric vehicles continued, with combined
volumes surging 72.2% from 15,905 to a total of 27,392 units and
accounting for two in five (39.3%) cars produced in the month.
Ramping up output of these vehicles still further is crucial, and
a new SMMT member survey reveals that nine in 10 firms want
measures to deliver low carbon and cost-effective energy supply,
to help support the transition to zero emission
technologies.1
While automotive businesses are broadly optimistic about the next
12 months, more than eight in 10 report that input and employment
costs have risen in the past three months, so action to alleviate
cripplingly high and uncompetitive energy costs ranks as their
number one concern. Support on business rates, easing supply
shortages and access to trade are also all viewed as beneficial
for growth.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said,
“February’s growth in UK car production signposts an industry on
the road to recovery. The fundamentals of the sector are strong;
a highly skilled workforce, engineering excellence, a sector that
is embracing new electrified vehicle manufacturing and wide
ranging capabilities in the EV supply chain. To take advantage of
global opportunities, however, we must scale up at pace and make
the UK the most attractive destination for automotive investment
by addressing trading and fiscal costs and delivering low carbon,
affordable energy.”
The news follows SMMT’s March publication of Race to Zero: Powering Up
Britain’s EV Supply Chain, a blueprint for
how the UK can boost its electric vehicle manufacturing in the
face of fierce global competition. It includes a new UK EV Supply Chain
Directory, which illustrates how, from
batteries, powertrains, fuel cells and power electronics to
anodes, rare earth magnets, graphene and silicon carbide wafers,
the UK already produces almost every component needed to make
electric vehicles. The challenge now is to scale up this
capability, harness the UK’s strengths in advanced automotive
manufacturing, low carbon energy and R&D and deliver growth
for the sector.
Notes to editors
1 SMMT member Q1 Automotive Insights Survey conducted
February 2023.
