Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/LONDON: Industry data showed on Thursday that United Kingdom‘s annual car production has dropped to the lowest level since 1956, mainly due to global semiconductor chip shortages.
According to the AFP, The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that around 775,000 cars were built in the previous year by the country’s mainly foreign-owned vehicle manufacturers, down almost 10 percent from 2021.
Output in 2022 was down nearly 41 percent compared with before the Covid pandemic in 2019, the SMMT added.
United Kingdom record production of electric vehicles in 2022
At the same time, the United Kingdom (UK) produced a record number of electric vehicles, the data showed.
The organization said that the main reasons for the depressed output (overall) were the crippling global shortage of semiconductors, which limited the ability to build cars in line with demand.
Output was also hit by “significant structural changes, reflecting a loss of production at two-volume manufacturing sites — and the impact of supply chain pauses in China due to Covid lockdowns”, the SMMT noted.
Japanese car giant Nissan produced the most vehicles at more than 238,000, up 16.5 percent yearly.
The next biggest was Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover, with nearly 203,000 cars, which was down more than eight percent compared with 2021.
The Mini, owned by the German group BMW, was the most exported model, followed by the Nissan Qashqai.
Almost 80% of the previous year’s cars were made for export, with the most significant demand coming from the European Union. The UK car sector has managed to swerve post-Brexit trading obstacles suffered by other industries. The next biggest market was the United States, snapping up 13 percent of UK-made cars. The EU accounted for almost 58 percent.
