UK Car Production Expands On Domestic Demand- SMMT

(RTTNews) - Driven by strong domestic demand, UK car production expanded for the second straight month in November with the easing of supply chain shortages.

Car production increased 5.7 percent from the last year, data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed Friday. About 80,091 cars were manufactured in November.

Production for home market surged 59.1 percent, while exports declined 5.0 percent.

Exports accounted for 74.8 percent of total manufacturing with around 57 percent of shipments heading into the European Union, followed by 22 percent to the US and 6 percent to China.

Electrified vehicle output accounted for more than a third of total production. Output grew 18.3 percent to 29,318 units in November.

The lobby said overall output has grown in six out of the past seven months as factories sought to meet demand for cars from both home and overseas markets amid global chip shortages and supply chain constraints. Nonetheless, data showed that the November performance was down against historic levels. Output was 44.1 percent down the pre-pandemic five-year average for November and also 25.7 percent below 2019's total of 107,744 units.

The lobby cited 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 as reasons for the weaker production.

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, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive said.