Carmageddon... Total Of Motors Built Is At Lowest Level In 66 Years

The motor industry is facing its greatest crisis as the number of cars built over the past six months slumped to the lowest level since 1954 – when food rationing was axed.

- Mark Reynolds

The coronavirus pandemic has seen sales and new production “fall off a cliff”, with unsold cars piling up at airfields like those at RAF Thurleigh in Bedfordshire and other storage facilities.

Motoring giant Renault Group yesterday reported £6.5billion losses and figures showed that a total of just 381,357 cars were built in the UK in the six months to June, a decline of 42 per cent on the same period last year.

The grim statistics were revealed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which urged urgent action to stop the decline as the Covid-19 pandemic leads to widespread closures and job losses.

The trade body estimated that some 11,349 jobs have been axed in the past six months at carmakers and suppliers. And it warned that even more posts were at risk amid fears of a “double whammy” of Brexit tariffs.

The new chief executive of Renault yesterday promised a radical turnaround plan which would be unveiled early next year. But Luca de Meo, who took over this month, admitted the company was “currently touching the bottom of a negative curve that started several years ago”.