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UK auto industry announces record turnover
30th June 2015
New figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirm the growing strength and vitality of the UK automotive industry and its ascendancy as a major global player. SMMT’s 16th annual Sustainability Report confirms the sector is breaking new records, with turnover hitting an all time high of £69.5 billion in 2014. Manufacturing output, vehicle sales, jobs and export values also grew, while the environmental impact from vehicle production has been reduced dramatically.
The latest figures confirm an upward trend for new vehicle demand and manufacturing output, with almost 1.6 million vehicles built in 20141. Last year, car production alone grew to 1.53 million units – the highest level since 2007 – with an increasing number of vehicles built for the domestic new car market, which itself grew 9.3% to reach 2.48 million registrations last year. On current trends, UK car output is expected to reach an all-time record level of 1.95 million vehicles in the next two years2.
Meanwhile, investment in more efficient, high-tech manufacturing processes has led to huge gains in productivity. In each of the five years to 2014, an average of 11.5 vehicles were produced for every person employed in the industry, compared with 9.3 vehicles for the period from 2005 to 20093.
Despite greater production volumes, environmental impact has been significantly reduced. Total waste to landfill from all automotive production fell by more than a quarter (26.3%) in 2014, and an exceptional 92.3% since 2000. Meanwhile, water and energy use fell by 10.7% and 10.4% respectively, and CO2 emissions per vehicle produced fell by 5% compared with 2013. Industry has also made considerable improvement to its already outstanding safety record with the number of workplace incidents per 1,000 employees falling to an all-time low of 2.2 – down 83.9% on 2002, when data was first collected.
11,598,879 vehicles were produced in the UK in 2014
2Independent forecast (Source: Autoanalysis)
3 Sources: ONS employment data and SMMT production data