Slump in exports to the EU
The British are making fewer cars than they have been since 1956
1/26/2023 7:06 am
Last year, British car manufacturers only produced around 775,000 vehicles – fewer than at any time in 66 years. According to the industry, the reason for the decline in production is a lack of semiconductors and disrupted supply chains. Above all, exports are shrinking.
UK car production fell to its lowest level since 1956 in 2022. The industry association SMMT blames the global shortage of semiconductors, but also the closure of two factories and the effects of the corona lockdowns in China on the supply chains. Production for the domestic market increased significantly by 9.4 percent compared to 2021. However, exports fell by 14 percent.
This hits the manufacturers in Great Britain particularly hard, because four fifths of the cars produced are exported. More than half of this, in turn, goes to the EU, while exports to the international community fell by 10 percent. A total of 775,014 cars were manufactured in the UK last year, down 9.8 percent year-on-year and 40.5 percent down on pre-Corona year 2019.
In December alone, production fell by 17.9 percent compared to the previous year, after the figures had increased slightly for the first time in a long time in October and November. Production had already fallen significantly in 2021. In 1972, 1.97 million cars were made in Britain.
Record value for electric vehicles
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) was pleased with the production of electric vehicles, which had risen to a record 234,066 vehicles. A good 30 percent of all cars manufactured in Great Britain were therefore fully electric or hybrid. Since 2017, the value of exported e-cars has risen from 1.3 billion to more than 10 billion pounds (11.34 billion euros). The potential for this division is obvious, said SMMT boss Mike Hawes.
“Now the right decisions have to be made,” said Hawes. This includes a strategy to expand domestic battery production and push the switch to e-vehicles across the industry. Just last week, the start-up Britishvolt, which had planned a so-called giga factory in north-east England, filed for bankruptcy. Almost 300 jobs are affected. The British government intends to ban new combustion engines from 2030 onwards.