Car manufacturing in the UK in June 2024 was down by 26.6% on the previous year, with H1 manufacturing down by 7.6%.
In fact, car production in the UK in June was down a whopping 26.6%, with total manufacturing for the first half of 2024 down by 7.6%.
The SMMT blames the big drop in June on carmakers retooling lines for electrified cars and on several model changeovers too – such as the new MINI and Qashqai – following a total of some £23.7 billion of investments announced in the last year.
When it comes to electrified cars, production in H1 was also down by 7.7% – the same as the overall drop – and accounting for over a third of the total. But bear in mind that the ‘electrified’ figure isn’t just BEVs but PHEVs and Hybrids too.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said:
The UK auto industry is moving at pace to build the next generation of electric vehicles – a transition that can be a growth engine for the entire British economy. The new government’s commitments to gigafactories, a decarbonised energy supply and a faster planning system will help boost our competitiveness and sustain employment in a sector that delivers well paid, skilled jobs nationwide. Amid fierce global competition, however, industry and government must work quickly to deliver those commitments, creating an industrial strategy that enables the growth the economy craves.
It’s all very well tooling up for electrification, but with demand static and the private buyer showing little interest in EVs, we do wonder where this is all going. It’s all very well building more and more BEVs, but who’s going to buy them?
Peter says
Hasn’t Jaguar stopped all production apart from the F Pace?
Also if the only car you can buy is electric, thatbiscwhat people will buy!