Honda, Toyota and BMW stopped vehicle production in the UK on Wednesday as a response to uncertainties amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Jaguar Land Rover is now the only operating plant in the UK.
UK’s annual car production is 1.5mn vehicles and these closed units produce around 1mnn vehicles. Mercedes, Daimler, Volkswagen, Ford, Fiat and Peugeot have shut operations in the UK. BMW will shut its car production unit from March 23 for four weeks till April 17. Honda said production will be halted from March 19 until April 6.
Automotive industry in the UK has struggled with sales decline amid weak demand. Since mid-February, global automakers have faced shortage of auto parts due to lockdowns in many Chinese provinces to control the spread of COVID-19. China’s is a major producer of automotive components and supply chains of various automakers across the world were disrupted in February, which translated into production cuts.
Britain has been going through a series of economic disruptions including Brexit, and auto sector also faced the brunt of shifting from Diesel. With the auto industry taking a hit, demand for steel in the region is also adversely impacted.