UK made fewer vehicles for the fifth straight month in May as Trump tariffs bite
Technicians work on a Rolls-Royce engine prior to it being installed in a car on the production line of the Rolls-Royce Goodwood factory. (AFP)
LONDON: Britain's vehicle production declined from a year ago for the fifth successive month in May, industry data showed on Friday, as factory disruptions and US tariffs weighed on automakers.
UK car and commercial vehicle production dropped 32.8 percent from a year ago to 49,810 units last month, marking the worst percentage drop in May output since 1949, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic-hit 2020, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Exports to the UK's two biggest markets, the EU and the US, declined by 22.5 percent and 55.4 percent respectively, SMMT said.
US President Donald Trump's 25 percent tariffs on imported automobiles and parts, imposed in March, have disrupted global supply chains, added hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for manufacturers, prompted export suspensions and pushed several automakers, especially in Europe, to consider shifting production to the US to avoid the duties.
British manufacturing also contracted in May, as output, orders and employment declined.
Still, SMMT chief Mike Hawes said the UK's trade deals, especially with the US, and a more positive relationship with the EU, provided some optimism.
The US and UK reaffirmed a previously agreed trade deal during the G7 summit in Canada earlier this month, under which up to 100,000 UK-made cars a year can enter the US at a 10 percent tariff, lower than the 25 percent rates other countries face.
In May, Britain reached a trade deal with India to lower tariffs and set quotas on auto imports, while also moving closer to the European Union on cooperation in defense, energy and agriculture.
Car production, excluding commercial vehicles, dropped by 31.5 percent in May, largely driven by model changeovers, restructuring and the impact of US tariffs, SMMT said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
UK government climbs down on welfare cuts in latest U-turn
LONDON: The UK government backed down Friday on controversial plans to slash disability and sickness benefits after a major rebellion by MPs, in a blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's authority. The climbdown is the third U-turn that Starmer has been forced into in less than a month, leading to questions about his political acumen and direction of the ruling Labour party. Only days after Starmer insisted he would plow ahead with the reforms, the government confirmed concessions had been made to 126 rebel MPs who had threatened to scupper the proposed changes. The turnaround comes just before Starmer marks the first anniversary of what has been a rocky return to power for Labour after 14 years in opposition to the Conservatives. A spokesperson for Number 10 said the government had 'listened to MPs who support the principle of reform but are worried about the pace of change for those already supported by the system.' It said a revised package of measures would preserve the welfare system for those 'who need it, by putting it on a sustainable footing.' The backtrack means the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (Pip) Bill, which contains the welfare reforms, will likely make it through a parliamentary vote due on Tuesday. 'It's always best to concede and then get it through in some way, shape or form. This is sort of damage limitation,' political scientist Steven Fielding said. The concessions, due to be set out in parliament later on Friday, include a 'staggered approach' to the reforms, care minister Stephen Kinnock said. This means that the narrower eligibility criteria proposed will only apply to new claimants, not those already receiving the benefit payments. Starmer's government had hoped to make savings of £5.0 billion ($6.9 billion) as a result of the changes that have now been partly abandoned, meaning finance minister Rachel Reeves will need to find them elsewhere. It has been a bumpy 12 months in office for Starmer during which Reeves has struggled to generate growth from a sluggish UK economy. On June 9, the government declared it had reversed a policy to scrap a winter heating benefit for millions of pensioners, following widespread criticism, including from its own MPs. Less than a week later Starmer announced a national enquiry focused on a UK child sex exploitation scandal that had attracted the attention of US billionaire Elon Musk. Starmer had previously resisted calls for an enquiry into the so-called 'grooming gangs' – that saw girls as young as 10 raped by groups of men mostly of South Asian origin – in favor of a series of local probes. The prime minister has a massive majority of 165 MPs, meaning he should be able to force whatever legislation he wants through parliament. But many of his own MPs complain of a disconnect between Starmer's leadership, which is focused on combatting the rise of the far-right Reform UK party, and Labour's traditional center-left principles. 'Labour is meant to stand for fairness, and those two flagship mistakes are all about being unfair,' Fielding said of winter fuel and the disability cuts. The furors are also overshadowing Labour's tightening of employment rights, and investment in housing and green industries, he added. A YouGov poll of more than 10,000 Britons released this week found that while Labour is losing voters to Reform, it is also forfeiting supporters to the Liberal Democrats and the Greens on the left. 'They've been making so many unforced errors,' said Fielding, a politics professor at Nottingham University. 'I think there is now being a very reluctant recalibration of things.'
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Arab News
UK made fewer vehicles for the fifth straight month in May as Trump tariffs bite
Technicians work on a Rolls-Royce engine prior to it being installed in a car on the production line of the Rolls-Royce Goodwood factory. (AFP) LONDON: Britain's vehicle production declined from a year ago for the fifth successive month in May, industry data showed on Friday, as factory disruptions and US tariffs weighed on automakers. UK car and commercial vehicle production dropped 32.8 percent from a year ago to 49,810 units last month, marking the worst percentage drop in May output since 1949, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic-hit 2020, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Exports to the UK's two biggest markets, the EU and the US, declined by 22.5 percent and 55.4 percent respectively, SMMT said. US President Donald Trump's 25 percent tariffs on imported automobiles and parts, imposed in March, have disrupted global supply chains, added hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for manufacturers, prompted export suspensions and pushed several automakers, especially in Europe, to consider shifting production to the US to avoid the duties. British manufacturing also contracted in May, as output, orders and employment declined. Still, SMMT chief Mike Hawes said the UK's trade deals, especially with the US, and a more positive relationship with the EU, provided some optimism. The US and UK reaffirmed a previously agreed trade deal during the G7 summit in Canada earlier this month, under which up to 100,000 UK-made cars a year can enter the US at a 10 percent tariff, lower than the 25 percent rates other countries face. In May, Britain reached a trade deal with India to lower tariffs and set quotas on auto imports, while also moving closer to the European Union on cooperation in defense, energy and agriculture. Car production, excluding commercial vehicles, dropped by 31.5 percent in May, largely driven by model changeovers, restructuring and the impact of US tariffs, SMMT said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
13 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Double-Decker Bus Carrying Students Plunges into River in England in ‘Terrifying' Crash
A double-decker bus carrying high school students plunged into a river in southern England on Thursday, sending the driver and four teens to the hospital and leaving more than a dozen others with minor injuries, officials said. The bus was bound for Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, a school for 16- to 18-year-olds, when it sped off a road in Eastleigh and plunged into the River Itchen. The cause of the wreck was being investigated by police and the bus company. Police said there was no indication why the bus veered off the road. But a woman who lives nearby and heard a screeching sound and saw the bus crash through roadside barriers into the water said the driver told her he couldn't stop. Kelly West, who helped some of the students to safety, said the bus was going close to 60 mph (nearly 100 kph) and said it was like a scene out of "Speed," the Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock film about a bus barreling through Los Angeles. "One of the young adults said the bus was just getting faster and faster as it came down the road and they didn't know what he was going to do," West said. "I can well imagine they were all thinking they were going to die, quite frankly." Inspector Andy Tester of the Hampshire Constabulary said it "must have been terrifying." All 19 passengers on board were either able to get off the bus or were rescued, police said. The bus driver, who was trapped, and one student had serious injuries but were expected to survive. West said the driver was alert and sharp, but panicking. She reassured him that help was on the way. "He said the brakes failed and the accelerator was jammed and that he was trying to avoid cars," West said. The bus was sitting upright in the river, next to a bridge, water up to its axles. Its front windows were smashed and mud was splattered on its side. A large section of bridge railing was missing. About 14 students were treated at the scene by paramedics, the South Central Ambulance Service said. Two helicopters, five ambulances and fire crews responded to the crash. Bluestar Bus said it did not immediately know the circumstances of the crash.
