Click the thumbs up >UK car production slumped 29.3% to deliver its lowest output of vehicles since 1984 in a COVID-19 impacted 2020 stalled by plant closures and enforced dealership shut-downs.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported this morning that manufacturing output declined 29.3% – virtually in-line with the decline in car sales across a challenging year – to 920,928 units.
Production for UK and overseas markets declined 30.4% (to 171,890) and 29.1% (to 749,038), butthe SMMT sought to highlight the importance of ongoing exports, stating that more than eight-in-10 cars headed overseas during the period.
The SMMT, which has forecast new car sales ibn excess of two million in 2021, has said that independent estimates of UK car production projected that volumes would reach one million this year, but added: “Much depends on the COVID recovery.”
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Vehicles and markets ⢠Connected vehicle technologies ⢠Electrified vehicles ⢠Lightweighting ⢠Chassis and safety ⢠Active and passive safety ⢠Electronic braking systems ⢠Foundation braking systems ⢠Shock absorbers ⢠Steering systems ⢠Interiors ⢠Door modules ⢠Heating, ventilation and air-cooling ⢠Seating systems ⢠Exteriors and materials ⢠Glazing systems ⢠Roof systems ⢠Powertrain and transmission ⢠4WD and AWD ⢠Engine technologies ⢠Transmission and clutch ⢠Turbochargers ⢠Electrics and electronics ⢠Battery technologies ⢠Electric motors ⢠Lighting - plus OEM and supplier company profiles and extended automotive news.
Death of diesel looms as carmakers accelerate to electric future
The world’s biggest diesel engine factory in Tremery, eastern France, is undergoing a radical overhaul – it’s switching to make electric motors.
From less than 10% of output in 2020, electric motor production at Tremery will double to around 180,000 in 2021, and is planned to reach 900,000 a year – or more than half the plant’s peak pre-pandemic output – by 2025.
The shift is testament to a car industry in flux. Demand for diesel cars has slumped since a 2015 pollution scandal, while tough new EU regulations, which fine carmakers for exceeding emissions limits, are pushing them to make more electric models.