July marks sixth month of increased UK car production

In total, 76,451 units were produced as UK car manufacturers continued their recovery from setbacks including the global chip shortage. Output does, however, remain -29.4 per cent lower than pre-pandemic July 2019.

Manufacturing output for the UK rose 13.7 per cent to 13,187 units in the month while exports increased 36.1 per cent to 63,264 units. Over eight-in-ten (82.8 per cent) cars made were shipped overseas, with the top destination markets being the EU, US, China, Japan and Australia. Combined they accounted for almost 85 per cent of all UK car exports last month.

Production of hybrid electric (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continued apace, with combined volumes rising 73.9 per cent to 30,180 units and representing almost two in every five (39.5 per cent) cars made in July. Since January, UK car makers have now produced over 200,000 of these vehicles, almost double the amount produced in the same period last year, and a total of 526,619 cars overall, an increase of 14.2 per cent year-on-year.