British car production has declined for 16 out of the past 17 months, new data revealed on Thursday.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders announced on Thursday that UK car manufacturing output dropped by 4% in October, when compared to the same month a year prior.
Indeed, 5,622 fewer models were produced in comparison to last October.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders added that August is the only outlier of the past 17 months, “due to ‘no deal’ Brexit contingency shutdowns earlier in the year artificially boosting output that month”.
Meanwhile, production for the home market dropped by 10.7%, with consumer and business confidence continuing to diminish.
Additionally, orders from overseas were down by 2.6%, because of “soft demand in some key markets”.
“Yet another month of falling car production makes these extremely worrying times for the sector,” Mike Hawes, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, commented on the data.
“Our global competitiveness is under threat, and to safeguard it we need to work closely with the next government to ensure frictionless trade, free of tariffs, with regulatory alignment and continued access to talent in the future,” the Chief Executive continued.
Mike Hawes said:”This sector is export led, already shipping cars to more than 160 countries, and in a period of unprecedented change a close trading relationship with the EU and preferential trading with all these other markets will be essential to keep automotive in Britain.”
The UK was granted yet another extension to its EU departure deadline at the end of October.
Parties now prepare for a general election to be held later this year on the 12th December.
A new poll recently revealed that the Conservatives are set to win 359 seats, giving the party a majority of 68 seats.
