Automotive industry in the United Kingdom

upright=1.25|thumb|[[Rolls-Royce Spectre, produced from 2023-present]]

The automotive industry in the United Kingdom is now best known for premium and sports car marques including: Aston Martin, McLaren, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini and Lotus. Specialised sports car companies include: Ariel, BAC, Morgan, Caterham, AC Cars, Gordan Murray, TVR, Noble, Radical, Ginetta, Ultima Sports, Westfield, Lister, Arash and David Brown. Volume car manufacturers in the UK include Nissan, Toyota and MINI.

left|thumb|[[Ariel Atom, produced from 2000-present]]

The UK has been a major centre for engine manufacturing, and in 2024 around 1.58 million engines were produced in the country, The UK has a significant presence in auto racing and the UK motorsport industry currently employs around 38,500 people, comprises around 4,500 companies and has an annual turnover of around £6 billion. The overwhelming majority of new cars sold in the UK are manufactured abroad; the majority are manufactured in Europe, while smaller shares are manufactured in Japan, China and South Korea.

The origins of the UK automotive industry date back to the final years of the 19th century. By the 1950s, the UK was the second-largest manufacturer of cars in the world (after the United States), and the largest exporter. However, in subsequent decades the industry experienced considerably lower growth than competitor nations such as France, Germany and Japan, and by 2008 the UK was the 12th-largest producer of cars measured by volume. Notable British car designers include David Bache, Dick Burzi, Laurence Pomeroy, John Polwhele Blatchley, Ian Callum, Colin Chapman, Alec Issigonis, Charles Spencer King and Gordon Murray.

History

1880 to 1900

thumb|right|[[Thomas Parker (inventor)|Thomas Parker produced the first electric car in 1884.]]

thumb|John Henry Knight (1895)

The inception of the British motor industry can be traced back to the mid-1880s when there were several key developments. One development was when Frederick Simms, a London-based consulting engineer, became friends with Gottlieb Daimler, who had, in 1885, patented a successful design for a high-speed petrol engine. Simms acquired the British rights to Daimler's engine and associated patents and from 1891 successfully sold launches using these Cannstatt-made motors from Eel Pie Island in the Thames. In 1893 he formed The Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited for his various Daimler-related enterprises.

In June 1895, Simms and his friend Evelyn Ellis promoted motor cars in the United Kingdom. Ellis had a left-hand-drive Daimler-engined Panhard & Levassor made for him and had it shipped to Southampton. It was transported by rail to Micheldever and he drove it 56 miles to his home in Datchet in July 1895. The police did not trouble him, just as they did not trouble other early motorists who were members of the aristocracy or the political class.

Simms' documented plans to manufacture Daimler motors and Daimler Motor Carriages (in Cheltenham) were taken over, together with his company and its Daimler licences, by London company-promoter H J Lawson. Lawson contracted to buy The Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited and all its rights and on 14 January 1896 formed and in February successfully floated in London The Daimler Motor Company Limited. It then purchased from a friend of Lawson a disused cotton mill in Coventry for car engine and chassis manufacture where, it is claimed, the UK's first serial production car was made. In 1891 Richard Stephens, a mining engineer from South Wales, returned from a commission in Michigan to establish a bicycle works in Clevedon, Somerset. Whilst in the United States, he had seen the developments in motive power and by 1897 he had produced his first car. This was entirely of his own design and manufacture, including the two-cylinder engine, apart from the wheels which he bought from Starley in Coventry. This was probably the first all-British car and Stephens set up a production line, manufacturing in all, twelve vehicles, including four- and six-seater cars and hackneys, and nine-seater buses.

Early motor vehicle development in the UK had been effectively stopped by a series of Locomotive Acts introduced during the 19th century which severely restricted the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on the public highways. Following intense advocacy by motor vehicle enthusiasts, including Harry J. Lawson of Daimler, the worst restrictions of these acts, (the need for each vehicle to be accompanied by a crew of three, and a speed limit in towns), was lifted by the Locomotives on Highways Act 1896. Under this regulation, light locomotives (those vehicles under 3 tons unladen weight) were exempt from the previous restrictions, and a higher speed limit – was set for them. To celebrate the new freedoms Lawson organised the Emancipation Run held on 14 November 1896, the day the new Act came into force. This occasion has been commemorated since 1927 by the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

1900 to 1939

thumb|right| [[Rolls-Royce 10 hp, produced from 1904-1906]]

The early British vehicles of the late-nineteenth century relied mainly upon developments from Germany and France. By 1900 however, the first all-British 4-wheel car had been designed and built by Herbert Austin as manager of The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company. In 1901, backed by (Vickers Limited) brothers 'Colonel Tom' and Albert Vickers [la], Austin started what became Wolseley Motors in Birmingham and was the UK's largest car manufacturer until Ford overtook them in 1913.

The great bulk of the pioneering car producers, many of them from the bicycle industry, got off to a shaky start. Of the 200 British makes of car that had been launched up until 1913, only about 100 of the firms were still in existence. In 1910, UK vehicle production was 14,000 units. By 1913, Henry Ford had built a new factory in Manchester and was the leading UK carmaker, building 7,310 cars that year, followed by Wolseley at 3,000, Humber (making cars since 1898 in Coventry) at 2,500, Rover (Coventry car maker since 1904) at 1,800 and Sunbeam (producing cars since 1901) at 1,700, with the plethora of smaller producers bringing the 1913 total up to about 16,000 vehicles. Car production virtually came to an end during the war years 1914–1918, although the requirements of war production led to the development of new mass-production techniques in the motor industry.

left|thumb|A 1934 [[MG P-type|MG PA]]

By 1922, there were 183 motor companies in the UK, and by 1929, following the slump years, there were 58 companies remaining. In 1929, production was dominated by Morris (founded by William Morris in 1910 in Oxford) and Austin (founded by Herbert Austin in Birmingham in 1905 after he left Wolseley) which between them produced around 60% of total UK output. Singer (Coventry motorcycle manufacturer started building cars in 1905) followed in third place that year with 15% of production. To celebrate the granting of his peerage, William Morris upon becoming Viscount Nuffield, reorganised his motor vehicle companies in 1938, which by then included not only Morris Motors and MG, but also Wolseley and Riley (bicycle company founded in Coventry in 1890 and making cars since 1906), into the Nuffield Organization. In 1939, the top producers were Morris: 27%, Austin: 24%, Ford: 15%, Standard (founded in Coventry in 1903): 13%, Rootes (which had acquired Humber and Sunbeam): 11%, Vauxhall (building cars since 1903, acquired by GM in 1925): 10%. Although rationalisation of motor vehicle companies had started, full integration did not occur. BMC continued to produce vehicles under the marque names of its incorporated companies, many of which competed with each other. Standard-Triumph's attempts to reduce costs by embracing a modern volume production strategy almost led to their bankruptcy in 1960, the result was that they were purchased by the commercial vehicle manufacturing company Leyland Motors. In 1966, BMC and Jaguar came together, to form British Motor Holdings (BMH). Leyland had achieved some sales success with Leyland-Triumph and in 1967 it acquired Rover. By 1966 the UK had slipped to become the world's fourth largest motor vehicle producer. Following a gradual process which had begun in 1964, Chrysler UK (CUK) had fully acquired Rootes by 1967.

thumb|right|1967 [[Mini (introduced 1959)]]

In the context of BMC's wide, complex, and expensive-to-produce model range, Ford's conventionally designed Cortina challenging for the number one spot in the domestic market, and the heavy reliance of the British economy on motor vehicle production, in 1968 the Government brokered the merger of the successful Leyland-Triumph-Rover and the struggling BMH, to form Europe's fourth-largest car maker, the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC). The new company announced its intention to invest in a new volume car range, and to equip its factories with the latest capital-intensive production methods. Renault of France had actually built UK market versions of its cars at a site in Acton, West London, from 1902 until 1962, but its popularity actually increased after the end of UK production, helped by the arrival of the Renault 4 minicar in 1961 and the world's first production hatchback model, the Renault 16, in 1965. By the end of the decade, it had launched a smaller hatchback model, the Renault 6, and a mid-range saloon, the Renault 12, and was continuing to grow in popularity. Renault's French rival Peugeot also enjoyed success in the 1960s with its 404 saloon and even more so with its successor, the 504, which was launched in 1968. This set the scene for even more sales for foreign carmakers on the UK market during the next two decades, as their market share continued to grow.

Japanese cars also started to appear on the UK market during the 1960s, although they were a rare on British roads until exploding in popularity during the early 1970s. The Daihatsu Compagno was the first Japanese car to be sold in Britain when imports began during 1964. This car was not popular with British buyers and was withdrawn from sale within a few years, although Daihatsu would return to the UK market in the early 1980s. A year later, Toyota became the second Japanese carmaker to import cars to Britain. It was followed shortly afterwards by Nissan (which used the Datsun brand for the UK market) and Mazda. Honda was also enjoying great success on the motorcycle market by this stage, although it didn't start importing passenger cars to the UK until 1972.

1968 to 1987

left|thumbnail|[[Morgan Plus 8, produced from 1968 to 2004 & 2012 to 2018]]

By 1968, UK motor vehicle production was dominated by four companies: BLMC, Chrysler (UK), Ford, and Vauxhall (GM). The Rootes Group had taken on the name Chrysler UK after its takeover by the American car giant Chrysler, which had also taken over French carmaker Simca.

The national champion, BLMC (British Leyland from 1968), was handicapped in its attempts to modernise by internal rivalries. Unattractive new products (particularly the Austin Allegro and Morris Marina) which were widely criticised by the motoring press, retention of legacy marques and models, labour disputes, quality issues, supplier problems and inefficient use of new equipment thwarted the dream of efficient high volume production. Increased overseas competition and high unit costs led to lowered profits, which in turn jeopardised investment plans. Although the cars continued to sell well in Britain, they were less popular on overseas markets. As well as that, the company often produced several cars to compete in the same market sector. For instance, it produced four competitors for the Ford Cortina at the same time - the Morris Marina, Austin Maxi, Triumph Dolomite and the Princess.

Japanese cars, particularly the Datsun badged cars built by Nissan enjoyed a strong surge in popularity during the first half of the 1970s, while French carmaker Renault and West German carmaker Volkswagen also enjoyed an upturn on the British market, helped by the arrival of well-received new cars, particularly the Renault 5 in 1972 and the Volkswagen Golf in 1974.

The fortunes of foreign carmakers on the British market were also assisted by the fact that most British manufacturers adopted the hatchback bodystyle, mostly featuring front-wheel drive, considerably later than their continental rivals. For instance, the arrival of the front-wheel drive Volkswagen Golf hatchback in 1974 came four years before any of the four British-based carmakers had launched an equivalent car. By the time the first small British-built hatchback, the Vauxhall Chevette, was launched in 1975, the French Renault 5 had already been in production for three years. However, British Leyland's larger Austin Maxi had been sold with a hatchback and front-wheel drive since its 1969 launch, although it sold similar-sized cars like the Morris Marina and Triumph Dolomite alongside it as a rear-wheel drive saloon alternative, with the Dolomite being sold further upmarket than the Marina. For buyers wanting six-cylinder and larger four-cylinder engines, the Princess was launched in 1975. Chrysler launched the Alpine for this market sector in 1975, featuring front wheel drive and a hatchback, but kept the Hunter in production alongside it until 1979 for buyers who still preferred rear-wheel drive and a saloon or estate bodystyle.

At the luxury end of the market, British Leyland was actually one of the first manufacturers in the world to put a hatchback on an upmarket car when it launched the Rover SD1 in 1976. This car signalled the beginning of rationalisation at British Leyland, with the SD1 replacing two model ranges - the Rover P6 and Triumph 2000/2500.

The popularity of Nissan's range of Datsun-badged cars in the 1970s was largely down to their low prices, cheap running costs, good equipment levels and a reputation for better reliability than most British cars, although these cars also went on to gain a reputation for being prone to rust.

BLMC's share of the UK market dropped from 40% to 32% between 1971 and 1973, with its new Morris Marina and Austin Allegro family cars selling well on the British market but not proving popular on many export markets, with the motoring media being critical of the styling of these new models as well as questions regarding the level of quality.

right|thumbnail|The first-generation [[Range Rover, produced from 1970-1996]]

By 1974, the UK's position as a world motor vehicle manufacturer had dropped to sixth place. In 1974, both BLMC and Chrysler UK appealed to the UK Government for financial help. The Government rejected the idea of a merger between the two companies, and instead Chrysler UK received a loan and BLMC was subjected to a series of studies to determine its future. The Government's official BLMC enquiry, led by Lord Ryder, suggested that BLMC's strategy was sound, but required huge state investment to improve productivity by providing mechanisation and improving labour relations.

Despite the effective nationalisation of BLMC as British Leyland (BL) in 1975, the recovery never happened. Chrysler sold its European interests (including those in the UK) to Peugeot in 1978, to allow it to concentrate on its own difficulties in the United States. The UK interests were renamed Peugeot-Talbot, with production of the Chrysler-developed cars continuing, with the last Rootes-developed car, the Avenger, being discontinued in 1981. Peugeot also developed a saloon version of the Alpine called the Solara, and also launched the larger Tagora, which had been in development by Chrysler when it sold its European operations. It also replaced the entry-level Sunbeam with the Peugeot based Samba in 1981.

As in most other developed countries, the 1970s saw major changes to the cars produced in the UK. Front-wheel drive, which had been pioneered by BMC on several new models between 1959 and 1965, now became a common feature on family cars after decades of producing only rear-wheel drive models. The hatchback bodystyle, which had debuted in Europe on the French Renault 16 in 1965, became more popular, with many of Britain's best-selling cars being available with a hatchback by the early-1980s.

Many Ford and Vauxhall models were also being produced at their parent company's continental factories by 1980. Ford had switched Capri and Granada production to Germany by this stage, while production of its new Fiesta supermini was divided between Britain, West Germany and a new plant in Spain from its 1976 launch. General Motors had not only decided to make its Vauxhall and Opel badged cars mechanically identical during the 1970s, but it had also imported some of its Vauxhall-badged cars from Opel factories in West Germany and Belgium, and its Corsa supermini (Vauxhall Nova in the UK) was solely assembled at a factory in Zaragoza, Spain, which opened in 1982. British Leyland's overseas outposts in countries like Italy (where cars were produced under the Innocenti brand) were gradually closed down or sold to other carmakers, so by the 1980s; it was entirely a British-based operation.

left|thumb|1981 [[Aston Martin V8 Vantage (1977)|Aston Martin V8 Vantage, produced from 1977-1989]]

By the end of the 1970s, Ford, Peugeot-Talbot and Vauxhall (GM) were well-integrated with their parent companies' other European operations. BL stood alone in the UK as an increasingly junior player. As part of the drive for increased productivity in the late-1970s, BL reduced its workforce and number of plants, and strived to centralise its management activities. The city of Coventry suffered particularly badly, with many thousands becoming unemployed after the closure of the Triumph car factory in the city in 1980.

In 1979, BL struck a collaboration deal with Honda to share the development and production of a new mid-sized car (Triumph Acclaim/Honda Ballade), which was launched in 1981. The new car combined Honda engine and transmission designs with a BL body, as did its successor model - the Rover 200 Series - in 1984. The next plan was to work on a new luxury car together, the end product being the Rover 800 Series, which arrived in 1986.

Although UK politics changed in 1979 with the election of the Conservative Party, the UK Government continued to support BL with funds for the development of a new mass-market model range (Mini Metro, Maestro, Montego and another Honda collaboration the Rover 800), which were all launched between 1980 and 1986. The Metro was the most successful of these cars.

Car assembly, with the exception of Jaguar, was concentrated into two central plants – Longbridge and Cowley. In July 1986, BL was renamed the Rover Group.

Peugeot started production of the Peugeot 309 hatchback at Ryton (originally a Rootes Group factory) in October 1985, followed by the Peugeot 405 two years later. During the 1990s, production of the 306 and 206 also began at Ryton.

Honda's venture with Austin Rover/Rover Group saw a number of different designs shared between the two marques. The venture came to an end in February 1994 when British Aerospace sold Rover Group to the German carmaker BMW for £800 million. The takeover meant that, for the first time in 112 years, the United Kingdom no longer had a British-owned volume car maker. It retained the rights to the Mini marque, while selling Land Rover to Ford. The MG and Rover marques were sold to the Phoenix Consortium, who branded the remains of the group as MG Rover and concentrated all production at the Longbridge plant. After the split from Rover, Honda continued making the Civic range in the UK at a new plant in Swindon.

thumb|left|The [[Bentley Azure, produced from 1995-2003]]

Ford acquired Aston Martin for an undisclosed sum in September 1987 and Jaguar for US$2.38 billion in November 1989. Production of the new small Jaguar, the X type, started at Halewood in late 2000. By the end of the century, Ford had also acquired Land Rover.

In 1998 Vickers plc put Rolls-Royce Motors, including Bentley, up for auction. Volkswagen Group won the auction with a bid of US$780 million, but Rolls-Royce plc, which had the right to block a transfer of the Rolls-Royce name to non-British owners, agreed to sell the rights to BMW for US$65 million. At the same time Ford announced that it would invest US$500 million in the expansion of a diesel engine factory at the site, making Dagenham its largest diesel engine center worldwide and creating about 500 new jobs to offset the 1,900 lost in vehicle assembly for a total loss of 1,400.

The closure of Vauxhall's Luton car assembly plant in March 2003 left Ellesmere Port as the sole Vauxhall assembly plant remaining in the UK. General Motors also retained the former Bedford works in Luton for producing vans such as the Vivaro and the Movano as well as Renault and Nissan badged variants. In April 2007, it was confirmed that the Ellesmere Port would produce the next generation Astra from 2010.

Losses at Jaguar led to closure of the company's Browns Lane plant in Coventry in 2004. Spare capacity at Halewood allowed Land Rover Freelander production to be transferred there in 2006.

MG Rover spent the early part of the 2000s investigating possible ventures with other carmakers in order to develop a new range of cars. Proposed links with foreign organisations including Malaysian carmaker Proton failed to materialise, and by late 2004 Chinese carmaker SAIC Motor had shown an interest in taking over the Longbridge-based firm – which was now hundreds of millions of pounds in debt. Talks broke down and the firm went into receivership in April 2005 with the loss of more than 6,000 jobs. Three months later, the firm's assets were purchased by another Chinese carmaker – Nanjing Automobile – and Longbridge partially re-opened over the summer of 2007 with an initial workforce of around 250 preparing to restart production of the MG TF which was relaunched in August 2008.

left|thumb|[[Aston Martin DB9, produced from 2004-2016]]

In April 2006 Peugeot closed its Ryton plant and moved 206 production to Slovakia. In 2007, Ford sold Aston Martin to a British-led Consortium backed by Middle East investors, retaining a small stake in the company and agreeing to continue the supply of components including engines. In 2008 Ford sold Jaguar Land Rover to Tata Motors of India for £1.15 billion. In November 2009, Dutch sportscar maker Spyker Cars announced that it would be moving production from Zeewolde to Whitley, Coventry, and UK production began in February 2010.

In March 2010 McLaren Automotive unveiled its MP4-12C model, alongside plans to produce around 4,000 cars per year at its Woking factory by the middle of the decade. At the Paris Motor Show in September 2010 Lotus Cars unveiled five new models due to go on sale by 2016, alongside plans for an investment of £770 million over 10 years, the complete redevelopment of its Hethel factory and an increase in production from under 3,000 cars per year to 6,000 to 7,000. In December 2010 it was announced that Renault had sold its remaining 25% shareholding in its eponymous Formula 1 team to Lotus Cars, and that the team would be renamed Lotus Renault in 2011.

2011 to 2019

right|thumb|2016 [[Range Rover Vogue, produced from 2012-2022]]

In January 2011, BMW announced that it would be extending the Mini range with the launch of two new two-door sports cars based on the Mini Paceman concept car, with a coupe version to enter production in 2011 and a roadster in 2012. In March 2011 Jaguar Land Rover announced that it would be hiring an additional 1,500 staff at its Halewood plant, and signed over £2 billion of supply contracts with UK-based companies, to enable production of its new Range Rover Evoque model. In April 2011 the MG Motor subsidiary of SAIC Motor announced that mass production had resumed at the Longbridge plant, as the first MG 6 to be produced in the United Kingdom came off the production line. In May 2011 Jaguar unveiled plans to build the C-X75 petrol-electric hybrid supercar in the UK from 2013, with production to be in association with Williams Grand Prix Engineering; Jaguar announced the cancellation of the project in December 2012 due to the Great Recession.

In May 2011, Aston Martin Lagonda confirmed that it was planning to revive the Lagonda marque, with the launch of two or three new models. In an interview with Reuters in the same month, Carl-Peter Forster, the Chief Executive of Tata Motors, revealed that Jaguar Land Rover would be investing over £5 billion in product development over the succeeding five years.

In June, Nissan announced that the replacement for its Qashqai model would be designed and built in the UK, in a total investment of £192 million safeguarding around 6,000 jobs. In June BMW announced an investment of £500 million in the UK over the subsequent three years as part of an expansion of the Mini range to seven models. In September 2011, Jaguar Land Rover confirmed that it would be investing £355 million in the construction of a new engine plant near Wolverhampton, to manufacture a new family of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. Later in the same month it was announced that the Jensen marque would be revived, with a new version of the Interceptor to be built by CPP Holdings at the former Jaguar factory Browns Lane in Coventry. In November, Toyota announced plans to make the UK its sole European manufacturing base for hatchback versions of its next C-segment family car, resulting in the investment of over £100 million in its Burnaston plant and the creation of around 1,500 new jobs.

left|thumb|2017 first generation [[Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, produced from 2013-2019]]

In September 2013 it was announced that a new National Automotive Innovation Campus would be built at the University of Warwick's main campus at a cost of £100 million, with £45 million to be contributed by Jaguar Land Rover.

In the half-year from January to June 2014, the UK had its best year in new car sales in 9 years. 1.28 million new cars were sold during the period, a rise of 10% compared to the same period in 2013. In 2014, more than 1.5 million cars were produced, the highest since 2007.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures show a total of 2.31 million new cars were registered in 2019, down 2.4% from the year before. It was the third consecutive year of decline, and the SMMT expects that trend to continue in 2020.

In the year 2019, the best selling vehicle in the UK was Ford Fiesta, followed by Volkswagen Golf, Ford Transit, Ford Focus, and Vauxhall Corsa.

In February 2019, Honda announced the Swindon plant (the only Honda plant in Europe) would close by 2021, as Honda sells more vehicles in regions outside Europe and the need to launch electrified vehicles.

In June 2019, Ford announced that it would close its Ford Bridgend Engine Plant by September 2020 due to a lack of demand for the "Dragon" engine produced there. The plant was closed on 25 September 2020.

2020-present

right|thumb|[[Lotus Emira, produced from 2022-present]]In March 2021, Aston Martin announced that their electric sports models would be manufactured at their car plant in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

On 30 July 2021, Honda UK Manufacturing (HUM) ceased operations with the final car produced, a Modern Steel Metallic Civic Hatchback to be exported to the US, rolling off the production line. The closure marked the end of Honda manufacturing in Europe. The former manufacturing site was sold to Panattoni, a European real estate developer in new build industrial and logistics facilities, into a major logistics and distribution hub called Panattoni Park.

During the 2020s, Chinese cars rapidly gained popularity in the UK, including companies such as BYD Auto and Chery. By the end of September 2025, 13% of all new cars sold in the UK were manufactured in China, ahead of South Korea and just slightly behind Japan at 14%.

|Aston Martin Lagonda||Aston Martin Lagonda||United Kingdom||Gaydon, St Athan||DBS, Vantage, DB12, Valkyrie, DBX||6,200 (2022)

|Bentley Motors||Volkswagen Group||Germany||Crewe|| Continental Flying Spur, Continental GT, Bentayga|| 5,174 (2022)

|Briggs Automotive Company||Briggs Automotive Company||United Kingdom||Liverpool||BAC Mono||n/a

|Caterham Cars||Caterham Cars||United Kingdom||Dartford||R400, CSR260||435 (2003)

|Dennis Eagle||Royal Terberg Group||Netherlands||Warwick

Blackpool

|Elite+, eCollect, Olympus, Duo, One Pass, Beta 2||1,000+

|Ginetta Cars||LNT Automotive||United Kingdom||Leeds||G40, G40J, G40R, G50, G55, G55 GT3, G60||n/a

|Jaguar Land Rover||Tata Motors||India||Castle Bromwich Halewood Solihull||288,677 (includes Halewood production)

|Leyland Trucks||Paccar||United States||Leyland||DAF CF, DAF LF, DAF XF||17,478

|LEVC||Geely||China||Coventry||TX||2,508 (2022)

|Lotus Cars||Geely||China||Hethel||Evija, Emira||1,710 (2021)

|McLaren Automotive||McLaren Group||United Kingdom||Woking||Artura, 750S, GTS, Solus GT||1,598 (2021)

|Mini||BMW||Germany||Cowley||Convertible, Hardtop/Hatch||210,973 (2016)

|Rolls-Royce Motor Cars||BMW||Germany||Goodwood|| Ghost, Phantom VIII, Spectre, Cullinan||3,538

|Toyota Manufacturing UK||Toyota Motor Corporation||Japan||Burnaston||Corolla

|TVR Motor Company||TVR Motor Company||United Kingdom||Blackpool Ebbw Vale||Griffith||872 (2003)

|- style="background:#efefef;"

|colspan="10"|Year

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|200

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|400

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|600

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|800

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1000

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1200

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1400

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1600

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1800

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|2000

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|2200

| colspan="10" style="text-align:left;"|Total

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1899|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1906|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|28

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1907|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|10,3

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1908|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|10,5

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1909|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|11

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1910|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|14

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1911|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|19

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1912|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|23,2

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1913|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|34

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1920|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|70*

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1921|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|40

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1922|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="220"|split not available  || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|73

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1923|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="12"|71,9|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="4"|23,6|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"| 95,5

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1924|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="12"|116,6|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="3"|30|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|146,6

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1925|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="13"|132|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="3"|35|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|167

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1926|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="13"|153,5|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="3"|44,5|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|198

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1927|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="13"|164,6|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="3"|47,2|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|211,8

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1928|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="13"|165,4|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="3"|46,5|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|211,9

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1929|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="13"|182,3|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="3"|56,5|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|238,8

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1930|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="15"|169,7|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|66,9|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|236,6

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1931|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="15"|159|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|67,3|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|226,3

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1932|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="16"|171,2|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="8"|61,5|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|232,7

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1933|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="20"|220,8|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="4"|65,5|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|286,3

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1934|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="20"|256,9|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="4"|85,6|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|342,5

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1935|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="26"|311,5|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|92,2|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|403,7

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1936|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="26"|353,8|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|107,6|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|461,4

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1937|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="26"|389,6|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|118,1|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|507,7

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1938|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="26"|341|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|103,8|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|444,8

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1939|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="26"|305|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|97|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="196"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|402

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1940|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="2"|2|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="13"|132|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="205"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|134

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1950|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="52"|523|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="26"|263|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="142"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|785

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1960|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="135"|1,353|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="46"|458|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="39"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,811

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1970|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="164"|1,641|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="46"|458|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="10"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2,098

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1980|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="92"|924|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="39"|389|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="89"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,312

(* estimated figure)

{|class="wikitable"

|+UK Motor Vehicle Production by year 1990 to 2013 – cars and commercial vehicles (1,000 units)

|- style="background:#efefef;"

|colspan="10"|Year

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|200

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|400

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|600

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|800

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1000

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1200

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1400

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1600

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|1800

| colspan="20" style="text-align:right;"|2000

| colspan="10" style="text-align:left;"|Total

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1990|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="130"|1,296|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="27"|270|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="43"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,566

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1991|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="124"|1,237|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="22"|217|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="54"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,454

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1992|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="129"|1,292|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="25"|248|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="46"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,540

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1993|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="138"|1,376|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="19"|193|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="43"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,569

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1994|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="147"|1,467|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="23"|228|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="30"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,695

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1995|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="153"|1,532|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="23"|233|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="24"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,765

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1996|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="169"|1,686|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="24"|238|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="7"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,924

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1997|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="170"|1,698|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="24"|238|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="6"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,936

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1998|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="175"|1,748|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="23"|227|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="2"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,976

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1999|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="179"|1,787|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="19"|186|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="2"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,973

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2000|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="164"|1,641|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="17"|172|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="19"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,814

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2001|| colspan="134" style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" |1,344|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="12"|121|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="54"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,465

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2012|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="146"|1,465|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="11"|112|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="43"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,577

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2013|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="151"|1,510|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|88|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="40"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,597

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2014|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="153"|1,528|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|71|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="40"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,599

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2015|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="154"|1,588|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|94|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="37"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,682

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2016|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="172"|1,722|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|94|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="19"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,817

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2017|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="172"|1,671|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|78 || style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="19"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,749

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2018|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="145"|1,519|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|85 || style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="46"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,604

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2019|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="134"|1,303|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|78 || style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="57"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,381

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2020|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="99"|920|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="9"|66 || style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="92"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|987

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2021|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="93"|860|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|73|| style="background:#e0e0e0;" colspan="100"| || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|932

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2022|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="93"|775|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|102|| colspan="100" style="background:#e0e0e0;" | || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|877

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2023|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="93"|905|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|120 || colspan="100" style="background:#e0e0e0;" | || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|1,025

| style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|2024|| style="background:MediumSeaGreen;" colspan="93"|779|| style="background:DarkSeaGreen;" colspan="7"|125 || colspan="100" style="background:#e0e0e0;" | || style="background:#efefef;" colspan="10"|905

Car design

thumb|[[Ford Motor Company|Ford's Dunton Technical Centre in Laindon, Essex, is the largest automotive research and development facility in the UK.]]

The UK has a strong design and technical base, with several foreign companies basing some of their research and development resource in the UK, including:

Ford Dunton Technical Centre, Essex
Jaguar Land Rover Technical Centre, Gaydon
Jaguar Land Rover HQ and Design Centre, Whitley
General Motors Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire
Nissan Design Europe, London
Nissan Technical Centre Europe, Cranfield
SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre, Birmingham

Independent designers and design companies include:

Gordon Murray Design
International Automotive Design
Ogle Design
Peter Stevens Designs
Shado (Stephen Harper)

Motorsport

thumb|right|The [[McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, the home of McLaren Racing]]

It has been estimated that there are about 4,000 companies in the UK involved in the manufacturing industry related to motorsport.

Formula One motor racing has made its home in the UK,

Red Bull Powertrains – Milton Keynes

Other Formula One facilities in England:

Racing Bulls – Bicester (Wind tunnel facilities)
Sauber Motorsport – Bicester (Technology centre)
Cadillac Formula 1 Team – Silverstone

Other major motorsports teams and organisations:

Lister Cars – Cambridge
Rodin Motorsport – Farnham
Virtuosi Racing – Attleborough
Invicta Racing – Attleborough
Ford World Rally Team – Cumbria
Ilmor Engineering - Brixworth
M-Sport – Cockermouth
Prodrive – Banbury (Runs Aston Martin Racing, formerly Subaru's WRC Team and Ford Performance Vehicles)
RML Group – Wellingborough
Strakka Racing – Northamptonshire
Sumo Power - Rye
Team Dynamics – Pershore
Triple Eight Racing – Buntingford
Cosworth – Northampton
McLaren Applied – Woking
Jaguar TCS Racing – Kidlington
Hitech Grand Prix – Silverstone
Envision Racing – Silverstone
Kiro Race Co – Silverstone

Inactive marques

Currently inactive British automotive marques include:

Allard,

Alvis,

Armstrong Siddeley,

Austin,

Autovia,

Daimler,

DeLorean,

Gilbern,

Gordon-Keeble,

Healey,

Hillman,

Humber,

Jensen,

Jowett,

Lanchester,

Lea-Francis,

Morris,

Napier,

Reliant,

Riley,

Rover,

Singer,

Standard,

Sterling,

Sunbeam,

Sunbeam-Talbot,

Talbot,

Triumph,

TVR,

Vanden Plas,

Wolseley Motors.

Dealership groups

There has been significant consolidation of car dealerships in the UK, leading to several large and notable dealership groups. As of June 2021, Sytner Group is the largest with a turnover of 4.92 billion.

Car market

Despite the loss of mass-market British marques, car models that are built in the UK are generally popular in the UK sales charts, examples being the Nissan Qashqai.

2.45 million cars were sold in the UK, with the Volkswagen Group having a 20.8% share, Ford Motor Company having 13.2% and General Motors having 11.3%. Subcompact and compact cars were the most popular sizes although SUVs were gaining a significant foothold. The Fiat 500 was the best selling A-segment product, Ford Fiesta the best selling in the B-segment, Ford Focus best selling in the C-segment and BMW 3 Series best selling in the D-segment.

In 2019, the best selling car model in the UK was Ford Fiesta followed by Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus.

References

Notes

External links

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
[https://baldwin.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/ The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust]
Dodge RAM