Has Brexit had an impact on the British market?
Britain's vote to leave the European Union (Brexit) took place on June 23, 2016, and its exit from the European Union was officially decreed on January 31, 2020.
1. The Brexit vote, however, had consequences for the evolution of the British car market as early as 2017. It suddenly declined that year, in stark contrast to the four other major European markets (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), and this decline continued in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In fact, the British car market, whose passenger car registration volume had previously been between that of Germany and France, moved closer to that of France from 2017 onwards. It remained at the same level as France between 2019 and 2023, and began to recover from 2024, while remaining even closer to that of France than to that of Germany. In conclusion, the British market was never able to recover the volume lost after 2016. This is one of the consequences of Brexit.
2. In terms of production, Brexit has undoubtedly been one of the causes of the decline in British car production , which lost more than half of its output between 2015 and 2025. In particular, Honda closed its UK plant in Swindon, Stellantis closed its UK plant in Luton, and Jaguar suffered a real decline between 2020 and 2025, with its production volume collapsing from 100,000 vehicles in 2015 to 10,000 in 2025. Nissan, the largest British producer, saw its production volume fall from 475,000 units in 2015 to 275,000 in 2025. Toyota saw its production fall from 190,000 to 90,000 between 2015 and 2025.