According to SMMT data, in December 2023, the UK’s automobile production increased by 20.7% year-on-year to 61768 vehicles.For the whole of 2023, 905,117 cars were produced in UK factories, an increase of 16.8% on the previous year. Among them, the production of pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles surged 48 percent, accounting for almost two-fifths of total production. When commercial vehicles are included, the UK produced more than one million cars last year, a 17% increase on 2022.

SMMT CEO Mike Hawes said, “Easing supply chain challenges, new model introductions and a huge £23.7 billion ($30.20 billion) investment have put UK car production firmly back on track for 2023.”

Hawes added that “According to the latest forecasts, the production of passenger cars and light goods vehicles in the UK will increase by around 3% to 1.04 million units in 2024, with the potential to exceed 1.2 million units by 2029.”

Late last year, the EU and the UK agreed to delay compliance by electric vehicle manufacturers with the indigenous component content rule until the end of 2026, postponing the imposition of EU-UK tariffs on electric vehicles, which had been scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2024.

In addition, the UK automotive industry also saw multiple new investments last year. Among them, Nissan announced that it will invest £ 2 billion in a new car model and a battery factory, BMW has promised to invest £ 600 million to produce an electric MINI at its Oxford factory, Jaguar Land Rover parent company Tata Motors has promised to invest £ 4 billion in a UK battery factory, and Toyota is also considering two investments in the UK.