UK vehicle output rises 36.3% to 74,031 in September, compared with a disrupted month last year
Car factories had their strongest September since 2023, but output for the first nine months is still 3.0% lower and the forecast for 2026 has been cut.
By Daily Oracles News Team1 min read
UK factories built 74,031 cars and commercial vehicles in September, up 36.3% and the strongest growth since August 2022, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The trade body said the figures reflected disruption a year earlier, when production stoppages held back output.
Car output rose 38.6% to 70,831, the highest September since 2023. Commercial vehicle production slipped 0.9%.
The latest independent outlook cited by the trade body puts UK light vehicle output at 731,000 units this year and 752,000 in 2027. This year's figure is 2.3% below 2025 and lower than the view taken in the middle of the year, which the trade body linked to ongoing model changeovers. The 2027 rise rests on new models, mostly electric, entering production.
Where the cars went
Electrified models made up 42.3% of cars built, with output up 22.5%. They accounted for 70.1% of exports.
Exports took 76.7% of all cars made in the UK. The EU remained the biggest market with 57.5%, and volumes there rose 12.7%. The US took 16.8% after a rise of 234.8%, and China 4.4%, up 357.7% from a low base.
What the industry is watching
Across January to September, UK factories built 564,537 vehicles, 3.0% fewer than a year earlier.
The trade body identified three things it wants settled. It said tougher rules of origin under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement could, from 2027, bring a shared annual tariff bill of £1.4bn on electric vehicle trade in both directions. It also pointed to the European Commission's Made in EU proposals, which it said would as drafted effectively shut UK-built vehicles out of their largest market, and it called for substantial reform in the review of the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate. It said the forthcoming EU-UK summit was an opportunity to agree solutions on the first two.
