Production of passenger cars in UK collapsed after Brexit
- British automobile production was the first in Europe in volume between 1945 and 1955, thanks to the large number of local brands and the vast Commonwealth market for which the models produced in Great Britain were sold, imports then being very low, as in all other European countries which did not have such a large market.
- The creation of the BMC group in 1952 (born from the merger of Austin and Morris) then the BLMC group in 1968 (born from the merger of BMC with Leyland Rover-Triumph) helped the British automobile industry to remain competitive for several years, until 1972, the year of peak production (1,921,000 passenger cars).
- Unfortunately, the poor management of the BLMC group and the development of social movements in its factories led to a fall in production of the first British carmaker, forced to be nationalized in 1975 in order to avoid outright bankruptcy. British car production fell to 900,000 units per year in the early 1980s.
- It recovered thanks to the arrival of Japanese carmakers (Honda, Nissan, Toyota) in the second part of the 1980s and a relaunch of the Austin-Rover group, heir to the former BLMC group. British production reached 1.8 million passenger cars again in 1999. It fell again in 2009, to 900 000 units before returning to its normal rate from 2010 to 2016, when it reached 1.7 million units. After 2016, the year of the vote in favor of Brexit, British production gradually fell to 900 000 units in 2020. It remains stable at this low level from 2020 to 2023. Honda closed its factory in 2021.