COVID-19: UK car manufacturing to see major impact

Amidst the current outbreak of COVID-19, SMMT predicts that the car manufacturing sector should brace for a downward impact due to the pandemic. Recent figures show that the UK motor industry manufactured 122,171 new cars in February, a slight drop of 0.8% when compared to January - a result which SMMT attributes to a slower demand within key global export markets. Export figures show a demand reduction of 3.1% from the US and Asia, which resulted in fewer than 95,000 units, despite the EU seeing a 3.6% increase.  However, figures did also show an increase in domestic demand, seeing a significant climb of 7.8% with 27.172 cars manufactured for the home market. Although the car manufacturing industry in the UK saw some increases, overall car production for the region has fallen by 1.5% year on year.