British car production fell 3.0 per cent at 1.67 million vehicles in 2017, falling to a 9-year low, an industry body said on Wednesday.
The car production fell last year for the first time since 2009 and investment slumped by a third as uncertainty over Brexit cut domestic demand and companies’ new spending plans, it said.
Production was down mainly due to a 10 per cent reduction in domestic demand, which was also impacted by a lack of government clarity over diesel levies, the SMMT said.
Investment fell a third to 1.1 billion pounds and the SMMT said some companies were waiting to see what sort of transitional deal Britain negotiates with the European Union.
This will bridge Britain’s exit from the EU in March 2019 while terms of its new relationship with the bloc are finalised, reports Reuters.
Automakers are hoping London and Brussels agree a deal which will allow Britain to maintain free and unfettered trade with its biggest car export market until at least the end of 2020.
Four of Britain’s six major carmakers recorded slumps in production last year, including the country’s biggest automaker Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan. Output at both companies fell 2.0 per cent.
At Peugeot’s Vauxhall Ellesmere Port, where the French carmaker is cutting staff to improve efficiency and tackle falling demand for its Astra Sports Tourer model, output slumped 22 per cent.
Toyota’s production fell 20 per cent with the company due to announce what will replace its current line of Avensis family cars and Auris hatchbacks.
Ford is deciding on future investment at its Welsh plant where unions fear jobs could be lost as JLR moves production from the site to its own facility in Wolverhampton in central England in 2020.