UK car production collapses to lowest for 66 years

Wow! 2021 was a bad year for UK car production and 2022 has proved to be even worse!

Here are the basic statistics:

UK car production fell by 10% last year 775,014, the worst year since 1956

So why is it happening? As always - a range of factors are at work:

• Semi-conductor chip shortages
• Chinese supplier shutdowns
• A fall in production of and export of Ukrainian wire harnesses imported into the UK
• The full effects of the Honda plant which closed in 2021 - it had manufactured around 100,000 cars a year at one time
• The Vauxhall Ellesmere Port plant ceased production of the Astra

So at the end of a tough year for car manufacturing in the UK - which business is the largest producer of cars in the UK?

The answer? Nissan - In 2022, Nissan overtook Jaguar Land Rover (pardon the pun) to become the UK’s largest car producer, helped by both its electric Leaf car and a sharp slide in JLR’s own production at their Solihull plant.