UK car production UP by 16.2% in June – First half up by 11.7%

UK car production continues its recovery, with numbers up by 11.7 per cent in the first half of 2023 and 16.2 per cent in June.

Car production in the UK is continuing to rise as car makers get better at managing supply chain issues, and June saw a rise in production numbers of 16.2 per cent, the fifth monthly rise in a row.

That five months of production improvements have also seen numbers in the first half of 2023 rise by 11.7 per cent although, to give context, 2022 was the worst year for car production since 1956, and numbers are down by 32.5 per cent on pre-Covid levels.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a big rise in cars using some form of electrification – hybrid, PHEV and BEV – which rose by 71.6 per cent in the first half, some 37.8 per cent of all cars built.

Most of the cars built in the UK – eight out of 10 – were for export, with the EU by far the biggest market taking almost 60 per cent of all exports, with a 25 per cent increase in exports in June outweighing the 10 per cent fall in cars built for the UK market.

Mike Hawes, SMMT boss, said:

UK car manufacturing is growing again, with production – especially of electrified models – increasing and major investment announcements making headlines. This is testament to the resilience of the sector and its undoubted strengths – a skilled and productive workforce, world-class R&D, and efficient, productive plants. But we must build on this momentum, sustain growth and attract further investments with a strategy that focuses on competitiveness and which strengthens the UK’s unique automotive offering.