Uncategorised

UK commercial vehicle production flies high in 2024

30 January 2025 #Uncategorised

January is typically a gloomy time of year but UK commercial vehicle manufacturing has continued to give us a shot of optimism, with the latest annual SMMT data published this week showing output volumes grew by 4.0% year on year in 2024. With more than 125,000 vans, trucks, taxis, buses and coaches leaving factory lines, that’s the highest output since 2008 – a whopping 16-year best.

Industry should also be proud that numbers of those vehicles being exported increased by 6.6% last year compared with 2023, reaching 82,097 units. Almost two thirds (65.3%) of all production was allocated to international markets, showing the importance of UK-made vehicles to countries around the world. It also underlines how important trade is to our sector, especially with the EU, where 97.8% of all exports headed.

The growth came despite some of our manufacturing facilities having reduced capacity following a backlog in orders and supply chain issues that stem all the way back to the Covid pandemic. Some production lines also changed over to new models, which temporarily hindered output.

Our sector’s performance is fantastic news for the UK economy, given that growth is greatly needed. But there are significant challenges expected in 2025 as manufacturers adjust global production to deliver an increasingly zero emission future, and in the UK, light commercial vehicle volumes are expected to fall by -40.9% following the closure of a long-standing van plant in Luton.

The transition brings challenges and opportunities and our potential for growth is clear with the UK building a full range of zero emission commercial vehicles, including vans, taxis, single and double decker buses and, for the first time, trucks. With that, output of battery electric commercial vehicles is expected to grow by more than 85% this year as our sector futureproofs itself and thousands of jobs for the global EV transition.

Industry is investing massively to make growth greener but the UK needs substantial support from government to make our country even more attractive for manufacturing and supply chain investment. With new industrial and trade strategies anticipated soon, both of these must provide the right conditions for that investment, including affordable green energy, a broad range of measures that support a strong domestic market for all the different zero emission products, and strong and free trade deals with major and emerging markets to export the vehicles being made here.

More investment will mean more innovation and production for our special sector, to continue flying the UK industry’s flag at home and around the world.

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