UK automotive trade association calls for more UK government support

The UK automotive manufacture has urged the Chancellor (Rachel Reeves, Britain’s authorities curate liable for fiscal policy) to get down the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, and make the conditions needed to reconstruct the assemblage to a 1.3 cardinal conveyance manufacturing hub by 2035.

According to GlobalData, UK rider car output this twelvemonth is forecast astatine astir 700,000 units and has declined from an yearly 1.5 cardinal units arsenic precocious arsenic 2018.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is besides informing that the raft of concern measures and backing pledged successful enactment of the sector’s maturation would beryllium ‘completely undermined by fiscal policies that endanger the UK’s caller car marketplace – a captious economical contributor and cardinal to the country’s entreaty arsenic an automotive concern destination’.

The assemblage has welcomed caller authorities commitments, notably the Industrial Strategy and the £2.5 cardinal money designed to boost innovation, productivity and inward investment. This, it says, combined with preferential attraction for automotive products negotiated successful landmark commercialized deals with the US and India; a caller regulatory model enabling automated thrust hailing services from adjacent year; changes to the ZEV mandate; and the Electric Car Grant, is grounds of government’s designation of the value of the assemblage to some economical prosperity and decarbonisation.

However, the SMMT says measures trailed up of the Autumn Budget (which volition beryllium announced contiguous – 26 November 2025) hazard negating this support, inflicting ‘severe damage’.

The SMMT besides maintains thar singling retired electrical cars for a caller wage per mile taxation (to capable the taxation raising spread caused by rising electrification and little substance work revenues) would ‘suppress demand, discouraging consumers and making ever-tougher income targets adjacent much costly and challenging to achieve’.

The stock of BEVs successful UK caller car income has risen to 25% but the UK authorities people for 2025 is acceptable astatine 28% oregon punishment fines could beryllium faced by companies connected their measurement shortfalls.

Given the manufacture has already had to walk £8.5 cardinal connected EV discounts successful pursuit of targets, measures that further weaken request volition lone shrink the marketplace and deter investors, the SMMT says.

Proposals acceptable retired successful the past UK Budget are already threatening investment, the SMMT says. Plans to extremity Employee Car Ownership Schemes and unit automotive workers to wage institution car taxation connected the precise vehicles they marque and acquisition would outgo the manufacture – and authorities – a combined £1.5 cardinal per year, the SMMT claims, with 5,000 manufacturing jobs astatine risk.