UK vehicle production drops nearly 16% in toughest year in a generation, SMMT

Overview of UK Vehicle Production Challenges

Jan 29 (Reuters) - British vehicle production tumbled in 2025 after a cyberattack at the country's largest automaker, new trade tariffs and plant restructuring weighed on output in what was described as the sector's toughest year in a generation.

Impact of Cyberattack on Production

Total vehicle production dropped 15.5% to 764,715 units last year, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders on Thursday.

Trends in Electric Vehicle Production

While car production declined 8% to 717,371 units, commercial vehicle output plunged 62.3% to 47,344 units.

Future Production Outlook

Tata Motors-owned JLR halted production at its UK plants for six weeks following a September cyberattack, which cost the British luxury carmaker hundreds of millions of pounds. The company resumed production in October.

"2025 was the toughest year in a generation for UK vehicle manufacturing," SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said, adding that recovery prospects hinge on "reduced energy costs, avoidance of new trade barriers and a healthy, sustainable domestic market".

There, however, were signs of improvement at the year-end, with December car production rising 17.7%, snapping four months of decline, SMMT said.

Production of battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid and hybrid cars rose 8.3% to a total of 298,813 units in 2025, a record 41.7% share of total output, signalling progress in the industry's electric transition.

SMMT expects the start of next-generation volume electric car production in Sunderland and the planned launch of seven new EV models across the UK to drive up the output in 2026, with car production seen rising more than 10% to about 790,000 units.

Light vehicle production is expected to surpass 1 million units by 2027, if new model launches stay on track.

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)