LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK car production logged its biggest fall for the month of November since 1984 amid shortage of semiconductors, data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, or SMMT, showed on Thursday.
Car output fell 28.7 percent year-on-year to 75,756 units in November. This was the fifth consecutive month of decline.
The figures also reflect the loss of output arising from the closure of a UK car factory in the summer, a situation that will impact year-on-year comparisons until July 2022, the lobby said.
Production for both domestic and overseas markets declined 18.8 percent and 30.4 percent respectively, as 30,487 fewer cars rolled off factory lines in November.
Exports accounted for more than 80 percent of all cars produced last month. Year-to-date, UK car plants turned out 797,261 units, some 432,794 less than pre-pandemic 2019.
Covid is impacting supply chains massively, causing global shortages - especially of semiconductors - which is likely to affect the sector throughout next year, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said.
With an increasingly negative economic backdrop, rising inflation and Covid resurgent home and abroad, the circumstances are the toughest in decades, Hawes added.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
