Something really bad happened to UK car production through the 1960s to the 1980s. Arguably we went from world leader to “also ran” in just twenty or so years. Books have been written about what happened and who was at fault, the unions, management, Government ….?
This is important because, arguably, it looks to be happening again. Just 9 days ago, we saw the collapse of British Volt (once valued at £3.8billion). UK car production figures came out earlier this week that are the worst in 66 years. UK car registrations for the last three years, because of COVID and material shortages, have been (in total) around 2.1m lower than “normal”. These are seismic shifts that are likely to have significant long term ramifications on our economy. This is important.
We’ve bounced back before as a nation, but the difference this time is the fundamental shift, globally, to electrification away from internal combustion. We live in a world that relies heavily on China for critical EV components and we’re seeing real world changes as a consequence now; not least BMW’s recent decision to transfer Mini EV production from Cowley to China.
So we’re pleased to see Parliament opening its inquiry into UK electric vehicle battery production. Let’s hope that when they write the books about what happened to car production in the UK in the 2020s, this is seen as the beginning of a turning point.