UK car and van production has fallen to its lowest level since 1953—excluding the pandemic shutdown—after a bruising six months for the automotive sector marked by uncertainty over US tariffs, factory closures, and confusion around new electric vehicle (EV) grants.
Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that car output fell 7.3% in the first half of the year, while van production plunged 45%, driven in part by the closure of Vauxhall’s Luton plant.
The slump leaves the UK auto industry at its weakest point in seven decades, despite a modest uptick in June following the implementation of a long-awaited US-UK tariff deal that reduced tariffs on UK-built vehicles exported to America from 27.5% to 10%.
Mike Hawes, SMMT’s chief executive, called the figures “depressing” and said he hoped the first half of 2025 marked “the nadir” for the industry. However, he warned that the UK was unlikely to return to its 2021 output of one million vehicles annually by the end of the decade.
“The government’s 2035 target of 1.3 million vehicles per year is quite some ambition from where we are,” Hawes said. “We clearly require at least one, if not two, new entrants to come into UK production to achieve it.”
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