UK Car Production STEADY in January – electrified models up by 50%

The latest figures from SMMT show car production in the UK remained steady in January 2023, but electrified car production rose by 50%.

UK car production has been hit hard by a combination of Covid and war, but as supply chain shortages start to ease and car makers adapt to a ‘new world’, things are steadily improving, with much of 2022 seeing monthly rises.

Now we’re in to a new year, and although car production in January didn’t rise it did, to all intents and purposes, stay steady, with a fall of just 0.3 per cent (or 247 cars) put down to a change from cars to vans at one major plant (probably Stellantis’ Ellesmere Port).

The rise and rise of cars with some form of electrification – Hybrid, PHEV and BEV – continues, with production volumes up by 49.9 per cent to 28,329, meaning more than four in 10 (41.3 per cent) cars produced in the UK came with electrification, with 77 per cent heading for export.

Production of cars for the UK market rose by 5.6 per cent, although cars built for export dropped by 1.5 per cent, mainly caused by the suspension of exports to Russia, with the EU accounting for 56.6 per cent of exports.

Mike Hawes, SMMT boss, said:

Automotive manufacturing can drive long-term growth for the low carbon economy but the sector needs competitive conditions to attract investment. Recent global developments, however, suggest increasing protectionism which, if not challenged or mitigated, could put the UK at a disadvantage. To deliver a wholesale industrial transformation we need a competitive framework and a pitch that promotes advanced vehicle manufacturing internationally. We now look to the forthcoming Budget for the necessary measures that will enable the automotive sector to deliver its undoubted potential.