BRITISH car production slumped to the lowest level since the 1950s in 2022 with 775,914 vehicles coming off production lines.
The sharp decline was caused by a crippling shortage of semiconductors, factory closures and supply chain issues caused by Covid lockdowns in China.
However, electrified vehicles continued to boom and accounted for almost a third of cars which, according to industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, was worth £10 billion in exports alone.
In 2022, UK factories turned out a record 234,066 battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid (HEV) electric vehicles, with combined volumes up 4.5 per cent year-on-year to represent 30.2 per cent of all car production.
“The response from police drivers to the BMW i3 has been very positive. It’s actually a very quick car.”
Total BEV production rose 4.8 per cent, with hybrid volumes up 4.3 per cent, and boosting output of these vehicles will be critical in the attainment of net zero, for both the UK and major overseas markets.
Overall, the annual total was 84,561 units down on 2021 and 40.5 per cent off the 1,303,135 cars made pre-pandemic in 2019, equivalent to a loss of more than half a million cars.
The figures come as fresh SMMT analysis confirms the increasingly important role of electrified vehicle production to the UK economy, especially the value of exports.
Since 2017, the value of BEV, PHEV and HEV exports has risen seven-fold, from £1.3 billion to more than £10 billion.
As a result, electrified vehicles represent 44.7 per cent of the value of all UK car exports, up from a mere 4.1 per cent.
Read more: Eurekar
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