Britain's Car Production - Top Model 1991 - 2010

British car production is relatively fluid. For example, in Germany it is probably the VW Golf that is the most produced car year after year. The UK however varies much more, so looking back over 20 years shows some interesting variance:

1991 Ford Fiesta 154,000
1992 Ford Fiesta 212,000
1993 Nissan Micra 153,000
1994 Rover 200 140,000
1995 Ford Fiesta 137,000
1996 Ford Fiesta 182,000
1997 Ford Fiesta 192,000
1998 Ford Fiesta 194,000
1999 Peugeot 206 163,000
2000 Peugeot 206 186,000
2001 Peugeot 206 186,000
2002 Peugeot 206 198,000
2003 Peugeot 206 207,000
2004 BMW MINI 189,000
2005 BMW MINI 200,000
2006 BMW MINI 185,000
2007 BMW MINI 238,000
2008 BMW MINI 234,000
2009 BMW MINI 214,000
2010 Nissan Qashqai 271,000

Nissan are now top for total cars and by model, while BMW cannot be happy being bumped by the Qashqai. Expect the very popular Nissan model to stay top for 2011 too.

Britain's Car Production - By Brand 1991 & 2010

Things have changed over the last twenty years with British car production. Back in 1991, things were very different from today for UK car making. Rover (LR too), Ford (Jaguar also) and Vauxhall accounted for 82% of production. Rover was the largest producer, and remained so until 1999. Below are production figures for '91:

1991

Brand/Production/Share
Rover 360,000 29%
Ford 339,000 27%
Vauxhall 259,000 21%
Nissan 125,000 10%
Peugeot 88,000 7%
Land Rover 36,000 3%
Jaguar 23,000 2%
Others 7,400
Total 1,237,000


Moving to 2010, I won't go on about what BMW did to Rover but only the MINI continues under its control. Ford moved from making cars to engines exclusively. It seems to me that GM wants to get out of car making in the UK altogether, but the market is too important so token Astra production makes up the much reduced output. Peugeot opened production in lower wage Eastern Europe, then shut down their UK plant. Nice one.

Sounds gloomy then. Well, not quite. Nissan got really serious about the UK, while both Toyota and Honda moved in. TATA are doing well with JLR too and BMW have certainly succeeded with the MINI. 2010 figures below show the striking change:

2010

Brand/Production/Share
Nissan 423,000 33%
MINI 216,000 17%
Land Rover 183,000 14%
Honda 139,000 11%
Toyota 137,000 11%
Vauxhall 103,000 8%
Jaguar 56,000 4%
Others 16,500
Total 1,275,000

In summary: Without Japanese investment, it would look very poor indeed.

Japan: Post War Car Production: 1950-2010

Japanese car manufacturing was nil in 1946, and amounted to a mere 100 cars in '47. The production took time to grow but accelerated as the years passed:


1950 1,600
1955 20,200
1960 165,000
1965 695,000
1970 3,180,000
1975 4,570,000
1980 7,040,000
1985 7,645,000
1990 9,950,000
1995 7,610,000
2000 8,365,000
2005 9,015,000
2010 8,310,000


It is an amazing success story, built around an undervalued Yen and commitment to keeping production at home. Recent events are conspiring against that strategy. Car manufacturing will be steadily moved offshore to make it more profitable.

In summary: Expect a reduction of Japanese car making from now on, unless the Yen weakens.