Cold winds for UK auto but EVs offer hope

Published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the roundup for 2022 highlights a total production of 775,014 units, down 9.8 per cent on 2021’s numbers. The SMMT attributes the decline to the global shortage of semiconductors, as well as structural upheaval such as the closure of Honda’s Swindon plant and a huge dropoff in production at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port facility, where output fell by 70 per cent.

With nearly eight in ten vehicles (78 per cent) leaving UK shores, strong domestic sales (up 9.4 per cent) were not enough to offset a 14 per cent fall in exports. Total output for the industry is now down over 40 per cent on the pre-pandemic, 2019 figure of 1.3m cars, a volume loss of more than half a million vehicles.

Despite the doom and gloom, there is cause for some hope. UK automotive turned out a record 234,066 battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid (HEV) electric vehicles, with combined volumes up 4.5 per cent year-on-year to represent almost a third (30.2 per cent) of all car production. According to the SMMT, the value of BEV, PHEV and HEV exports has risen seven-fold since 2017 - from £1.3bn to over £10bn – with electrified vehicles now making up 44.7 per cent of all UK car exports.