UK Vehicle Production By Brand : 2017-18

The UK vehicle manufacturing industry has issues. Locals don't seem to identify with it, either through ignorance or apathy. After years of growth, things have gone into retreat. What are the issues?

The UK designed & built Qashqai. Hugely successful

Nissan: After booming in Europe, the Nissan brand is in free fall across the continent and that includes the UK. The broad nature of the decline makes it clear that it is a policy of the company. However, I don't see the benefit of knee jerk reactions.

Nissan's Infiniti marque was introduced into many countries to take on the premium market. Then before you could blink, the whole thing was called off and it will retreat to a few markets. A poorly thought out initiative.

Land Rover: VW's arrogant diesel cheating scheme has hit Land Rover, a marque that was heavily associated with engines of that fuel. China sales also hit a speed bump and some production have been moved offshore. All those things conspired to affect LR production in the UK. The new Evoque coming in the second half of 2019 should help things along.

BMW MINI: A ray of light for the industry with production on the up. I would imagine that would level off now.

Honda: A brand that is pulling out of its production in Europe. This caught me by surprise as traditionally Japanese brands do not retreat. However, it made no sense making cars in a region where they don't sell many vehicles.

Toyota: The brand is doing well in Europe so it is simply a question of how to utilise its UK facility. The Corolla is currently the model made there but plans are difficult to make with the pigs ear Europe has turned Brexit into.

The XE. A driver's car

Jaguar: Two new models were assigned to overseas production which has impacted on UK production volume. I'd have to call that decision a very poor one, what with ample capacity in the UK.

PSA Vauxhall: This is another situation that is difficult due to Brexit faffing about. PSA would like to know what they are dealing with before committing. What a divisive world we live in. World peace? The environment? Forget it! Humans can't even organise a civilised political divorce.

Other cars: Generally the strongest part of the UK industry with marques like Aston Martin, Mclaren and Rolls Royce going really well.

Commercial: Not a large part of UK vehicle manufacturing. Bus brands Alexander Dennis, Wrightbus and Optare all increasing in 2018. With volume up 8.5%, a nice trend not likely to be sustained.

Passenger Cars
17	18	Brand	2018	%	+/-	2017	%	+/-
1	1	Nissan	429,832	28.3%	-8%	468,308	28.0%	-1%
2	2	Land Rover	354,425	23.3%	-10%	395,451	23.7%	6%
3	3	BMW MINI	234,183	15.4%	7%	218,885	13.1%	4%
4	4	Honda	160,676	10.6%	-2%	164,160	9.8%	22%
5	5	Toyota	129,070	8.5%	-10%	144,077	8.6%	-20%
6	6	Jaguar	94,879	6.2%	-31%	136,656	8.2%	-21%
7	7	GM Vauxhall	77,481	5.1%	-16%	92,164	5.5%	-22%
8	8	Infiniti	12,422	0.8%	-54%	26,898	1.6%	-17%
9	9	Bentley	8,717	0.6%	-17%	10,457	0.6%	-10%
10	10	Aston Martin	6,286		22%	5,164		40%
11	11	Mclaren	4,751		44%	3,297		3%
12	12	Rolls Royce	4,239		35%	3,133		-23%
13	13	Lotus	1,486		3%	1,436		14%
15	14	Caterham	506		3%	491		-1%
14	15	Morgan	487		-17%	589		6%
		Total	1,519,440		-9%	1,671,166		-3%
Commercial Vehicles
1	1	Vauxhall	62,607	73.8%	5%	59,795	76.4%	-19%
2	2	Leyland DAF	16,889	19.9%	10%	15,323	19.6%	4%
3	3	Alexander Den	2,017	2.4%	16%	1,734	2.2%	-22%
-	4	LVEC	1,443	1.7%
4	5	Dennis Eagle	952	1.1%	7%	890	1.1%	23%
5	6	Wrightbus	747	0.9%	147%	303	0.4%	-51%
6	7	Optare	233		34%	174		-9%
		Total	84,888		9%	78,219		-17%
		Grand Total	1,604,328		-8%	1,749,385		-4%

An Alexander Dennis bus