UK car production accelerated in May, with 54,962 cars leaving factory gates last month, but the sector’s recovery still faces ongoing pandemic-related supply shortages.
While last month’s numbers were up on 2020’s Covid-19 impacted figure of 5,314, it was still down 52.6% when compared against 2019, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, with some 127,469 fewer cars built since January than in the same period in two years ago.
So far this year UK factories have turned out 429,826 cars, up 105,063 units on 2020, with 95.3% of the additional volume built for export.
However, overall output remains down 22.9% on the same five-month period in 2019 as a result of “the scale of the challenge facing the industry” as it seeks to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic amid global supply shortages, notably of semiconductors.
Manufacturing of electrified vehicles picked up speed, with 19.2% of all UK car output in May being of battery electric and hybrid cars, while in the year-to-date one in five vehicles manufactured in the UK was an alternatively-fuelled model. This share drops to one in 16 for pure battery electric vehicles and one in six for hybrid cars.
The SMMT also said 83.6% of all cars built so far in 2021 were shipped overseas, with the European Union remaining “by far the most important destination for British cars”, taking 56.0% of all exports, followed by the US at 18.3% and China at 7.3%.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “May’s figures continue to look inflated when compared to last year’s near total standstill of production lines. The recovery of car production is, however, still massively challenged here and abroad by global supply shortages, particularly semiconductors.
“If the UK is to remain competitive, therefore, it must ensure it has a globally attractive policy framework for both vehicle production and the supply chain. Accelerating zero-emission car production is part of this package, so while one in five models made here this year is alternatively fuelled, we need to drive investment in R&D, charging infrastructure and the market to ensure we can deliver the net-zero future society demands.”
