Demand for automobiles crashed in Britain amid coronavirus pandemic resulting an 18.2% fall in annual production.
A total of 110,179 cars rolled off assembly lines last month leaving output in the first 10 months of the year down a third at 743,003 vehicles, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Awaiting clarity on the trading terms Britain’s automotive sector will have with its biggest export market, the European Union, and faces a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.
Mike Hawes Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders SMMT Chief Executive said “These figures are yet more bad news for an industry battered by COVID-19, Brexit and, now, the unprecedented challenge of a complete shift to electrified vehicles in under a decade.”
Earlier in the month of September production for UK buyers fell by 58 percent to just 7,795 units, while exports declined by 41 per cent to 73,443 vehicles produced.
Production losses due to the crisis have cost manufacturers more than £9.5bn so far this year, it was estimated, while at least 13,500 jobs have been lost.
