CEO Update

Nothing concentrates the mind like a deadline – after an erratic 18 months of speeches, positioning and negotiation since Article 50 was invoked and the UK gave notice of its intention to leave the European Union, recent weeks have seen the developments come thick…

Whatever you might think of the withdrawal agreement that the Prime Minister and her team have negotiated, that we finally have progress and a proposal to avoid the devastating consequences of a no-deal Brexit following more than 18 months of…

October registration figures were released this week, and they were as unpredictable as we’ve come to expect so far in 2018. There has been a significant amount of upheaval in the new car market this year with VED changes, regulation…

This week’s Budget was carefully scheduled to avoid a Halloween clash but for our sector, as the headline writers pointed out, it still turned out to be more trick than treat. While some of the Chancellor’s announcements were welcome –…

The many challenges facing the UK automotive sector have only been further highlighted by this week’s manufacturing figures for September. It has been a turbulent year for our industry, what with continued Brexit uncertainty, regulatory upheaval and the drop in…

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee of the House of Commons has this week called for the government’s proposed 2040 target for ending the sale of conventional powertrains to be brought forward to 2032. The 2040 target is…

We were surprised and disappointed to hear this week that the government has decided to alter its plug-in car grant system drastically, excluding anything that does fewer than 70 miles on a full charge. It’s astonishing to think that merely…

It’s been a difficult year trying to predict how new car registrations will behave – supply issues and consumer hesitancy have disguised the fact that the industry is in a good position to deal with upcoming challenges. The newly introduced…

While the political focus of the industry and, indeed, the SMMT has been on Brexit, future trade challenges are not confined to Europe. Across the pond, President Trump has already raised tariffs on steel and aluminium, tariffs that are costing…

This week SMMT headed to Brussels, meeting with industry organisations and decision makers to illustrate the impact of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. It was part of efforts to make sure that negotiators in the EU, as well as in the UK,…