The 2025 SMMT Sustainability Report comes in the wake of two hugely significant government initiatives – the Industrial Strategy and the Trade Strategy – which, together, set out a policy framework for the UK that is intended to be long-term, cross-government and growth-focussed. With automotive at their hearts, they provide a platform on which the sector can rebuild its global competitiveness.
As we work with government to implement these strategies and deliver that growth, we do so in the context of an even greater, global challenge – climate change. The UK automotive industry, like that of the global industry, fully recognises the climate emergency, and the significant contribution of road transport to national and international carbon emissions. As such, our industry understands the important role we must play in the UK’s achieving net zero by 2050; put simply, if we do not decarbonise, that target will be missed. This is why our industry continues to invest and innovate in plants and facilities, products and processes. The automotive sector holds the key to net zero – but we need the right competitive conditions to fulfil our potential.
Our sector has already made huge strides, developing zero emission vehicles and battery technologies, decarbonising our manufacturing processes, and investing in net zero skills. Making further progress – and delivering the growth the economy needs – requires industry and government to continue working together, maximising economic opportunities, mitigating any wider adverse environmental and social impacts, and maintaining the healthy new vehicle markets that are crucial for mobility, fleet renewal and growth.
Throughout the transition to net zero, our industry must continue to attract inward investment to ensure zero emission vehicles and batteries are manufactured in the UK, supporting jobs and the wider economy. This requires an aligned approach to regulation and policy across all government departments, based
around the fulfilment of the objectives set out in the Industrial and Trade Strategies. In this light, we welcome Government’s commitment to publish a Circular Economy Strategy in Autumn 2025 to boost economic growth further, reducing raw material dependencies, supporting supply chain resilience, improving environmental protection and sustainability, and reducing consumer costs.
By working together, the automotive industry will deliver for the economy, producing cutting-edge technologies, driving exports and growth. Government and industry have a shared ambition for a UK automotive ecosystem fit for a zero emission future. This 26th annual Sustainability Report, recording the ongoing advances the industry is making across multiple metrics even in the most challenging of times, demonstrates UK automotive’s inherent commitment to a sustainable industry that can drive forward the economy and the country.
