Car Production in U.K. Plunges 20%

Output by British car plants plummeted 20% to 129,000 units last month, the sharpest November decline since the Great Recession in 2008, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reports.

Export-bound production for the month plunged 23% to 105,200 units. Output earmarked for the domestic market dipped 2% to 28,800 units.

SMMT blames the decline on weakening demand in all markets, the impact of the switch to Europe’s new WLTP emission test protocol and continuing uncertainty about the effect on future business of the U.K.’s departure from the European Union next spring.

The trade group has been fretting for months about the disruption to the automotive supply chain of a “hard” Brexit, which appears increasingly more likely. “If the country falls off a cliff-edge next March,” warns SMMT CEO Mike Hawes, “the consequences would be devastating.”