LONDON - UK new-car production fell by 11% in July, the 14th consecutive month of declines due to weak demand in EU and Asian markets. The news came in an announcement by the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on 29 August.
Global car demand has recently been hit by a slump in sales of diesel vehicles in Europe. At the same time, weakening demand in China, the world's biggest automotive market has cut demand.
Last month, British car factories produced 108,239 cars. This was because exports were down 15% on the same month in 2018. Exports account for four of every five vehicles made in the UK. Production for domestic demand rose 10%.
'The sector is overwhelmingly reliant on exports and the global headwinds are strong,' said Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO.
'Another month of decline for UK car manufacturing is a serious concern. With the UK market also weak, the importance of maintaining the UK's global competitiveness has never been more important,' he said.
Hawes said the industry needs a decision on Brexit quickly. He added that this would 'unlock investment and safeguard the long-term future of a sector which has recently been such an international success story.'
Car makers scaled back UK operations worried that a no-deal split from the EU would be disruptive.
Honda is mothballing a site in Swindon that employs 3,500 people. Nissan no longer plans to build the X-Trail SUV at the country's biggest auto plant in Sunderland.
Ford said in June that its Bridgend engine plant in Wales will close by September next year -- that move is part of a Europe-wide retrenchment. Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's biggest car maker, is building the Jaguar I-Pace SUV, its first full-electric car, in Austria. It is shifting production of the Land Rover Discovery to Slovakia.
Bloomberg contributed to this report which first appeared in Automotive News Europe.
