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Car manufacturing in the UK fell by 13.9% in 2024, and for December by a whopping 27.1%, as carmakers struggle with a new landscape. We’ve got used to a litany of excuses for reduced car manufacturing numbers in the UK ever since Covid and Ukraine disrupted sullpy chains.
But those issues can no longer be blamed for low numbers, so the mantra has become one of transferring production from ICE to EV restricting production numbers, but it seems more likely the lack of demand in challenging economies and a huge disparity from the number of EVs car makers expected to be selling by now and the reality is more likely the cause.
December’s car production figures for the UK saw the 10th drop in a row, with numbers down to just 45,022 – a drop of 27.1% on last year – and the figures for the whole of 2024 saw a drop of 13.9% on 2023, with cars built for domestic production down by 8.0% and for export by 15.5%. Electrified cars – that’s BEV, PHEV and HEV – were down by 20.4% Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said:
Amid significant geopolitical and trade tensions, UK manufacturers are set on turning billions of pounds of investment into production reality, transforming factories to make new electric vehicles for sale around the world. Growing pains are inevitable, so the drop in volumes last year is not surprising. With new, exciting models and battery production on the horizon, the potential for growth is clear. Securing this future, however, requires industrial and trade strategies that deliver the competitive conditions essential for growth amidst an increasingly protectionist global environment.
The fall in production in 2024 was almost universal amongst car makers, with Nissam down 13.2%, MINI down 40.1%, Toyota down 19.8% and Bentley down by 16.2%, with just Jaguar Land Rover improving production to 257,110 – up by 7.8%, 70% of which were Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender