UK car production rose 46.6% in March, the first increase after 18 months of decline, with 115,498 cars manufactured, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The performance marked one year since the coronavirus crisis caused all UK automotive plants to be shuttered in mid-March 2020, after only 78,767 cars had left factory gates that month.
Compared with the five-year March average, production was down -22.8%, equivalent to a loss of 34,047 units, and some -32.1% lower than the 2017 record for the month. It rounds off a -4.0% decline in the first quarter of 2021 with 306,558 units produced, 12,694 less than a year before.
March output for the domestic market rose 19.4% to 20,269 units with exports also increasing, up 54.1% to 95,229 units. More than eight-in-ten (82.5%) cars were sent overseas in March, with shipments to major destinations rising dramatically compared with 2020 when many markets were already shut before the UK itself entered lockdown.
Exports to the EU, US and Asia were all up in March, by 33.5%, 36.4% and 54.1% respectively. The EU remained by far the number one market for UK made cars, with more than half (51.9%) of all exported cars heading across the channel. Meanwhile, combined output of battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid vehicles (HEV) amounted to a 21.5% share of all cars produced, up from 13.7% a year before, meaning one-in-five-cars produced in the UK is now alternatively fuelled.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “The first rise for UK car production since summer 2019 is a major step in the right direction but belies the underlying situation. With factories shut for much of March 2020, output was always going to be up but it remains below average, with some £11bn worth of production lost over the past year. Whilst the Covid situation is improving in the UK and in some major export markets, manufacturers are still struggling to manage residual issues, most notably the global semiconductor shortage”.
