UK car production rises 5.7% in November, but lags pre-pandemic levels | Daily News Byte

Dec 23 (Reuters) – British car production rose 5.7% in November from a year earlier, although output levels were still a quarter below pre-pandemic levels, as global chip shortages and supply chain issues continued to hurt, an industry body said. was on Friday.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 80,091 cars were built in Britain in November, with output rising in six of the past seven months.

“Supply chain shortages, overseas lockdowns and some structural and manufacturing changes have combined to throttle output for much of 2022, but there is renewed hope that these issues will ease in 2023,” SMMT chief executive Mike Howes said in a statement.

Production of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles rose 18.3% with a combined volume of 29,318 units, representing more than a third of total production in November. Production in this combined segment grew by 2.9% in the first 11 months of the same period of 2021.

Domestic production rose 59.1% to 20,206 units, while exports fell 5% to 59,885 cars.

November’s performance was still low against historical levels, falling 44.1% below the month’s pre-pandemic five-year average and 25.7% below the 2019 figure.

Reported by AB Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Edited by Maju Samuel

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