BBC News Published image copyrightGetty Images UK car production is still much lower than it needs to be due to shortages of staff and semiconductors, the industry is warning. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said just 69,097 cars were produced in June, the lowest since 1953, with the exception of last year. The trade body is calling for urgent assistance to exempt staff pinged by the NHS Covid app. SMMT said the industry was "desperately trying to get back to full capacity". The picture "didn't look particularly pretty", the SMMT's chief executive Mike Hawes said, even though production numbers were up on June 2020, just after the first coronavirus lockdown ended.