{"id":25491,"date":"2026-04-30T07:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/25491\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T07:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:07:26","slug":"uk-vehicle-production-fell-in-march-thanks-to-weaker-demand-and-parts-supply-woes-car-dealer-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/25491\/","title":{"rendered":"UK vehicle production fell in March thanks to weaker demand and parts supply woes \u2013 Car Dealer Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The number of cars and commercial vehicles to roll off UK production lines fell last month, new figures show.<\/p>\n

Latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows vehicle production fell by 8.2% in March to 72,511 units. Weak exports, model changeovers and restructuring were to blame, said the trade body.<\/p>\n

The number of cars built was 69,755, down by 0.8%, while 2,756 commercial vehicles (CV) were produced, 68% fewer.<\/p>\n

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The SMMT said car output was affected by a parts supply challenge temporarily pausing production at a large plant, weak exports to Asian and US markets, and model changeovers, while commercial volumes continued to reflect restructuring.<\/p>\n

Exports of cars and CVs fell, down by 4.3% and 54%, to 49,339 and 1,602 units respectively.<\/p>\n

Despite this, production for overseas buyers still accounted for 70% of vehicle output, with the EU remaining the UK\u2019s largest global market, taking 91.6% (1,467 units) of CV exports and 62.6% (30,899 units) of car exports.<\/p>\n

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EU demand for UK-built cars rose for a fourth consecutive month, said the SMMT.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Mike Hawes said: \u2018Car production stabilising in March is welcome news for both assembly and the wider supply chain.<\/p>\n

\u2018Government\u2019s recent intervention to bring down electricity costs will provide a major and long-called for boost, but the scheme\u2019s benefits must be delivered urgently as the geopolitical situation offers little optimism.<\/p>\n

\u2018We must ensure any \u201cMade in Europe\u201d proposals from the European Commission do not exclude the UK as the two industries are integrated such that both would suffer if the free trade provisions enshrined in the Brexit deal were undermined.<\/p>\n

\u2018The EU and UK must work together to avoid that scenario \u2013 and the looming threat of tariffs arising from stricter rules of origin on electrified vehicles \u2013 to ensure a positive outcome for industry, economies and consumers on both sides of the Channel.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The number of cars and commercial vehicles to roll off UK production lines fell last month, new figures…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[202,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-25491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-headline-block-2","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116492398920094824","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}