Car production in Great Britain in February fell by 14% to 105 thousand vehicles. Such data on Friday was published by the Society of Manufacturers and Dealers of Great Britain (SMMT). This is the worst February performance in more than a decade, with overall car production declining for the 18th straight month.
The production of cars for the domestic market fell especially strongly - by 34.9%, production for export decreased by 8.1%. Exports account for 83.2% of the total British car production, while only 16.8% of the cars produced in the country go to the domestic market. SMMT attributed the poor February performance to the continued impact of the pandemic, including continued dealership closures, new Brexit customs procedures and supply chain difficulties, among other things. Among other things, the global auto production is negatively affected by the shortage of semiconductors - many companies have already reduced or temporarily stopped production because of this.
SMMT predicts that auto production will grow by 15.8% in 2021 compared to last year, which turned out to be the worst for the sector since 1984. “Fortunately, there are some gaps: UK car dealerships are due to reopen on April 12, vaccinations are showing progress and there are concrete plans to rebuild the economy,” says SMMT head Mike Howes.
