‘Dismal’ UK car production drops to 65-year low

  • Date: 27-Jan-2022
  • Source: The Telegraph
  • Sector:Transport
  • Country:Middle East
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‘Dismal’ UK car production drops to 65-year low

Car production fell to the lowest level since 1956 last year as the computer chip shortage and the closure of Honda’s Swindon factory took their toll. Britain made 859,575 vehicles, or 61,353 fewer than even pandemic-affected 2020, in what the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders called a “dismal” year. Most of the 6.7pc decline was blamed on the shortage of computer chips, but about a quarter was due to the closure of the Honda plant that made the Civic. The Japanese company had been the UK’s fifth-biggest car maker before the closure. With Jaguar planning to end mass production at its Castle Bromwich plant and Vauxhall opting to make vans rather than Astra cars at Ellesmere Port, there are concerns about the ability of UK car makers to reclaim lost ground. British car production peaked in 1972, when 1.9m cars rolled off production lines. The record in the past decade came in 2016 when 1.7m cars were made, with numbers declining ever since. An independent analysis by consultancy Auto Analysis suggests the UK will make more than 1m cars next year and 1.1m in 2025. However, Mikes Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said returning to pre-pandemic levels would probably require