UK car production DOWN by 20.6% in September 2024

UK car production fell in September 2024 by 20.6%, with manufacturing for the domestic and export markets both down by over 20% too.

Last month, when we reported on car production in the UK for August – which was down by 8.4% – we quoted the SMMT as saying  “With the traditional summer shutdowns and factories prepping to switch to new models, August was always going to be a quieter month for output.” Guess what? It seems to be the same story for September, although the drop in production is greater still at 20.6%

This month, SMMT says “The decrease was largely expected as factories wind down production of current models and retool lines for all-new zero-emission vehicles.”

All this may be factual, but if UK car production is in a temporary semi-hiatus because car makers are busy swapping over to produce more EVs, where are the customers going to come from when car makers are already struggling to sell the EVs already on the market?

Unsurprisingly, electrified models – that’s Hybrid, PHEV and EV – accounted for 30.4% of cars built, although the actual number of 21,309 was 37% down on last year.

Cars built for the domestic and export markets both fell by over 20%, with the EU taking more than half, although volumes were down by 28.6%, China exports were down by 23.1% although exports to the US rose 24.6%. Overall, so far this year, car production is down by 10.2%.

Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO, said:

As UK Automotive undergoes its most radical transformation in more than a century, short-term production declines were always anticipated, and they represent a temporary adjustment in exchange for long-term growth.