According to industry figures released on Thursday, British automakers suffered their slowest sales in the month of November in past 37 years, as they battled to cope with the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on global supply chains.
Despite a 53 percent increase in electric vehicle output, car manufacture declined by 28.7 per cent to 75,756 units in November 20121, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)
It was the fifth month that the decline was happening continuously and also represented the worst November in the history of 37 years.
According to the SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes that the company is facing a downfall because of the permanent closure of the Honda (7267.T) car factory in July, and he also added that these figures were worrying and underscored the severity of the industry’s situation.
In the first 11 months of 2021, British automobile production fell by 433,000 units compared to the last year, before the pandemic.
The company is facing global shortages due to COVID-19, especially of semiconductors -which is likely to affect the sector throughout next year, said Hawes.
Hawes also added that this virus is risking the economy in the world, and inflationary pressures created the most difficult corporate setting in decades.
“We need to ask the government to provide us with support in the same exact way they are providing support to any other sectors”, he said.
Britain announced on Tuesday that they would provide support to the Hospitality sector as well as leisure business which has been hit hardest by omicron. The authority will give them the support of 1 billion pounds.
According to Hawes, the automobile sector in the united kingdom is as well equipped as it can be for the installation of full post-Brexit customs procedures at UK borders on January 1st, but any delays would put additional strain on just-in0-time operations.
“Should any problem arise, contingency measures must be implemented to keep cross-trade border smoothly.
