The UK-based Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has announced that in October this year the UK’s car output fell four percent or 5,622 units year on year to 134,752 units. The car output of the UK has now fallen in 16 of the last 17 months, with August posting the only increase.
Meanwhile, the country’s car production in the first ten months of the year totaled 1,123,926 units, decreasing by 14.4 percent year on year, with 80.5 percent of this output shipped to foreign markets.
“Yet another month of falling car production makes these extremely worrying times for the sector. Our global competitiveness is under threat, and to safeguard it we need to work closely with the next government to ensure frictionless trade, free of tariffs, with regulatory alignment and continued access to talent in the future. This sector is export-led, already shipping cars to more than 160 countries, and in a period of unprecedented change a close trading relationship with the EU and preferential trading with all these other markets will be essential to keep automotive in Britain,” said Mike Hawes, chief executive officer of SMMT.