UK car production DOWN in November by 30.1% – the lowest level since 1980

UK car production fell in November 2024 by 30.1%, and by 56.7% for the home market, the lowest levels since 1980.

In a turbulent market in a cost of living crisi, car makers struggle, but add in the obsession of a legislation-driven requirement to abandon a century of ICE car innovation to force us all into EVs, and you have a perfect storm of grief.

That’s clear when you look at car production numbers in the UK this year, with November 2024 marking the ninth month of decline in a row with numbers down a whopping 30.1% on November 2023, the lowest production numbers since 1980.

According to the SMMT, the big drop is due to strategic product decisions, weakness in key markets and because November 2023 numbers were higher as supply chain issues eased. But the figures are still awful.

The raw numbers are total production of 64,216 – down by 27,711 – with cars built for UK consumption down by 56.7% and for exports by 21.3%, roughly half of which (52.3%) went to the EU.

As you’d expect, electrified cars (that’s BEV, PHEV, and Hybrid) accounted for a chunk of production—29.8%—although volumes have declined by 45.5%.

Mike Hawes, SMMT boss, said:

These figures offer little Christmas cheer for the sector. While a decline was to be expected given the extensive changes underway at many plants, manufacturing is under pressure at home and abroad, with billions of pounds committed to new technologies, new models and new production tooling. Government can help by supporting consumers in the transition, fast tracking its Industrial Strategy for advanced manufacturing and, most urgently, reviewing the market regulation which is putting enormous strain on the sector.