UK car production declined by 9.7% in August 2023 following six consecutive months of growth.
A total of 45,052 cars rolled off factory lines, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported.
August typically has fewer cars built because of summer shutdowns, but last month’s output was also affected by extended production pauses at some plants for planned maintenance and upgrades as car makers gear up to produce the next generation of electric vehicles.
Production for the domestic market fell by more than a quarter, while output for export was down 5.5%, largely due to a decline in shipments to the United States, China and Japan.
The European Union remained the UK’s biggest global market with almost six in 10 exports heading for the bloc.
In the year to date, total production has increased by 11.8% to 571,671 units with both home and export volumes rising.
Despite the overall drop in August production, combined volumes of electrified vehicles rose by 2.8% to represent nearly two in five of all cars made, equivalent to 16,511 units.
Since January, car makers have built 216,922 of these vehicles, 84,310 more than in the same period last year.
“After six straight months of growth, a decline in UK car output in what is always the smallest and most variable volume month, is not a cause for concern,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes.
“With car manufacturers taking advantage of the summer holiday season to upgrade their plants, this is part of an ongoing commitment to deliver the next generation of electric vehicles, with a record number of these models already being made.”
Hawes went on to call for a UK-EU agreement to delay tougher rules of origin that he said would “damage the competitiveness of electric vehicles in both the European and British markets”. He also said that “concrete details” were needed from the UK government on the regulation compelling the sale of EVs in Britain.
