UK Net Importing : 2016-17

The UK has been a net importer of cars for many decades. There are a number of brands that are contributors and we can see this below. It only compares the past two years but if you want to see earlier years, simply click in the dates 2014-15, 2013-14, 1990-2011.

Getting back to the present, we see the UK's net imports dropped from 970,000 to 870,000, from -36.0% to 34.2% when comparing prodution to sales. That is the lowest net negative since 2013. Nissan is the best of the brands with a export surplus of 317,000, closely followed by Land Rover with 312,000.

The new 2019 Auris to be made in the UK

Honda gained well thanks to the Civic, passing both Toyota and Jaguar that both had falls. The Avensis is to be dropped from the Toyota, with a new Auris (Corolla) becoming the sole model made (see above).

The chart below is in thousands so please add 000. ‘Prod’ equals numbers made, ‘UK’ shows sales within the country, and ‘Export’ is the difference of the first two, therefore the net difference.

2016	Prod	UK	Export		2017	Prod	UK	Export
Nissan	475	153	322		Nissan	468	151	317
Land Rover	372	80	292		Land Rover	395	83	312
Mini	211	69	142		Mini	219	68	151
Jaguar	173	35	138		Honda	164	54	110
Toyota	180	97	83		Jaguar	137	36	101
Honda	134	59	75		Toyota	144	102	42
Infiniti	33	3	30		Infiniti	27	4	23
Bentley	12	2	10		Bentley	10	2	8
Vauxhall	118	251	-133		Vauxhall	92	195	-103
Rest	15	1,944	-1,929		Rest	15	1,846	-1,831
Total	1,723	2,693	-970		Total	1,671	2,541	-870
Net Importer			-36.0		Net Importer			-34.2

Car manufacturing is complex and companies try to keep factories running as close to capacity as possible. Models that are close to being replaced inevitably drop off and decisions to move production from one factory to another has dramatic changes in volumes.