UK new car production saw significant drop in August
Year-to-date numbers are down by 8.5 per cent.
The summer of 2024 brought more than just a heatwave to the United Kingdom – it also saw a significant drop in car production. According to figures hot off the press from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), UK car production fell by a cool 8.4 per cent in August, a month when factories traditionally hit the snooze button for their summer shutdowns. In real numbers, that’s 3,781 fewer cars cruising off production lines, with a total of 41,271 shiny new vehicles rolling out.
So, what’s going on in the land of British automotive assembly lines? It seems we’re in a bit of a transitional phase. The dip in production continues a trend we've been seeing throughout the year, as factories pause to say goodbye to older models and retool for their successors.
Summer production numbers:
Now, don’t let that 8.4 per cent decline fool you into thinking we’re on a road to nowhere. The drop is mostly due to domestic production screeching to a halt, falling by a whopping 19.8 per cent. But hold on – the domestic output was already pretty small, so the sharp decline might look worse than it is. Plus, most of what gets built here is shipped elsewhere, which means exports are the real show.
Speaking of exports, while they didn’t exactly have a stellar month either, the 5.9 per cent fall wasn’t too dramatic. Our neighbours in the EU remain the top destination for UK-built cars, soaking up almost half of all exports (49.8 per cent, to be exact). The US, China, Japan, and Australia round out the top five, and interestingly, both American and Japanese markets saw a bit of growth, proving that not all corners of the globe are cooling off on British-made vehicles.
UK new car production, August 2024
Year-to-date numbers show UK car production is down 8.5 per cent, but there’s a silver lining for the home market: output for UK buyers is actually up by 12.3 per cent, despite August’s slump.
Source: SMMT
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