UK car production UP again in August – but still half of pre-Covid levels

UK car production continues to grow with August production up by 34 per cent, but numbers are still almost half of the pre-Covid levels.

We’ve seen car production in the UK decimated by Covid and ‘Chip’ shortages in the last few years, but manufacturing numbers have started to recover, albeit not to pre-Covid levels.

But production started to increase in May 2022, and now we get the latest manufacturing numbers for August which show production up – for the fourth month in a row – with a 34 per cent increase on August 2021. Although August 2021 was a particularly poor month due to shutdowns.

But that still means car production numbers for August of 49,901, which is good news, although it’s still little more than half of production levels in pre-pandemic August 2019.

Of course, the inevitable rise of electrified cars continues, with the production of BEVs, PHEVs and HEVs rising by almost a third, and BEV production more than doubling.

Despite the good news, production for 2022 is down by 13.3 per cent in the first eight months of the year compared to 2021 – some 78,501 fewer – and production in 2022 looks set to be half a million units below pre-pandemic levels.

To add to car makers’ woes, despite the increase in production in the last four months, is the rising spectre of inflation, rising interest rates and ridiculous energy prices. SMMT’s Mike Haws said:

While another month of rising UK car production is good news, and testament to sectoral efforts to overcome supply chain shortages, it overshadows what is an extremely tough and uncertain environment for manufacturers.

The government’s measures announced last week to alleviate crippling energy costs provide valuable respite, but long-term action is needed to restore stability and provide the sector with a globally competitive investment framework.