UK car production rises in November but still below pre-pandemic level

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Car production in the UK rose by 5.7% in November from a year before, led by a big increase in output for the domestic market, but output remains just a little more than half what it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, industry figures showed on Friday.

Factories in the UK produced 80,091 cars in November, up from 75,756 a year before, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders said. While production for export slipped by 5.0% to 59,885 units from 63,055, output for the home market jumped by 59% to 20,206 from 12,701.

In 2022 to date, 723,846 cars have been produced in the UK, down 9.2% from 797,265 at the same point in 2021.

Despite the rise in production last month, output was still 26% below November 2019 and 44% below the pre-pandemic five-year average, the SMMT said.

‘The reasons for this trend are many,’ the industry group said, ‘including the impact of Covid lockdowns overseas, recently in China, structural and product changes, the long-running squeeze on semiconductor supply and wider turmoil resulting from war in Ukraine.’

Commented SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes: ‘Supply chain shortages, overseas lockdowns and some structural and product changes have combined to throttle output for much of 2022 but there is renewed hope these issues will begin to ease in 2023.’

By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor

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