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British vehicle production collapsed to its lowest level in May since 1949 after Aston Martin and other British automakers halted cargo to the US due to US customs war.
Auto and van production in the UK plants fell 33% in May to 49,810 units from the previous year, according to Automobile Manufacturers Association and Traders figures released on Friday.
Production has declined for the fifth consecutive month, marking the worst monthly performance in 76 years, except when vehicle factories were closed during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown.
British luxury brands, including Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin, have suspended cargo from April after the Trump administration slapped higher tariffs on foreign-made vehicles imported into the US.
Auto cargo to the US fell 55% year-on-year in May, with US exports falling from 18% to 11%. Exports to the EU also fell 22.5%.
These US cargoes are expected to resume with the scheduled implementation of the US-UK trade agreement on Monday, under which Trump agreed to cut the US fare of 27.5% to 10% for the first 100,000 vehicles shipped from the UK each year.
“2025 has proven to be a very challenging year for UK automobile production, but there is a beginning of optimism for the future,” SMMT CEO Mike Haws promises to cut energy costs by up to 25%, citing the trade agreement and recent UK industrial strategy announcements.
The agreement with the US was announced by Trump on May 8th, but automobile executives have expressed dissatisfaction with the speed of implementation. A few days before the transaction, the company has not yet been notified of a specific quota system.
“It will be released on June 30th, so we plan to request three months’ worth of sales in 24 hours,” Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark said at SMMT event Tuesday. “It’s complexity and dynamism.”
Hallmark still welcomed the deal, saying that the UK automaker has “not gotten worse than some of its European and non-European competitors.”
Even before the US trade war began, British vehicle production was declining as the industry struggled to meet the country’s tough electric vehicle sales targets.
Stellantis said last year that the cost of complying with the government’s “zero-emission vehicle mandate” is partially behind the decision to close the Luton Van Factory and integrate UK operations at Ellesmere Port Factory in Cheshire.
Ford also denounced the mandate last year for cutting 800 UK roles in a wider European restructuring.
