UK’s Feb car output jumps 13.1% as supply-chain snags ease

(Reuters) – British car production rose 13.1% in February in its first monthly increase in three, helped by an easing of supply-chain snags and robust output in both domestic and overseas markets.

Britain’s car output rose by 8,050 units to 69,707 units cars last month, with exports rising 11.5% and domestic output jumping 20.3%, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said in a statement on Thursday.

SMMT said about 81.2% of the total produced cars were exported, mainly to the European Union, and in smaller volumes to countries including Japan, Australia and Turkey, offsetting declines to the U.S. and China.

The global auto industry has been grappling with a pandemic-induced shortage of key components for the last two years, particularly semiconductor chips. Supply chain disruptions in China due to strict months-long lockdowns also weighed on the sector.

Production of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles continued to rise, with combined volumes surging by 72.2% to 27,392 units in February, the data showed.

Earlier this month, SMMT had said Britain needed to urgently respond to large-scale U.S. and EU initiatives to support industry, or it would risk falling behind in the race to build electric vehicles (EVs).

The U.S. last year announced $369 billion in subsidies to support clean technologies and EVs under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). That was followed up by the Green Deal Industrial Plan proposed by the EU last month on concerns that the U.S. law could put companies based in Europe at a disadvantage.

(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)