The UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT):
- 859,575 cars were made in Britain in 2021, 6.7% fewer than in 2020
- and a third less than in 2019 when over 1.3 million cars rolled off production lines
The global shortage of semiconductors was the biggest reason for weak production, the SMMT said. Staff absence due to COVID and the closure of car showrooms during lockdowns in early 2021 also played a role, as did the closure in July of Honda's car plant in Swindon in southern England.
