Car production in the UK in 2025 fell to a 73-year low

Qashqai production at the Nissan plant in Sunderland. Source: Nissan

Car production in the UK in 2025 decreased by 15.5% to 764,715 units. This is the lowest level since 1952, reported the SMMT association.

What is known

Passenger car production fell by 8% to 717,371 units, while commercial vehicle production collapsed by 62.3% to 47,344 units.

The main reason for the decline was the six-week shutdown of Jaguar Land Rover factories following a September cyberattack, which caused the company's production volume to drop by 21.7% to 201,283 cars. An additional blow to the commercial vehicle segment was the closure of the Stellantis plant in Luton.

Exports also declined: deliveries to the USA fell by 18.3%, to China by 12.5%, to Europe by 3.3%. The domestic market absorbed only 161,545 cars produced in the country.

Ten most popular UK export models in 2025:

1. Nissan Qashqai
2. MINI
3. Toyota Corolla
4. Nissan Juke
5. Range Rover Sport
6. Range Rover
7. Range Rover Evoque
8. Range Rover Velar
9. Jaguar F-PACE
10. Land Rover Discovery Sport

The UK government intends to restore the industry and increase production volumes to 1.3 million cars per year by 2035. Among the measures are supporting the construction of battery factories, reducing electricity prices, and stimulating electric vehicle sales.

December data offers cautious optimism: passenger car production increased by 17.7%, and electric and hybrid vehicles reached a record 298,813 units. SMMT expects car production to grow by more than 10% in 2026.

Source: SMMT