Hooray! It's been a record year for Britain's car industry

Britain is brilliant. Seriously. Whatever you make of, y'know, things that have happened over the past year, it’s a nation that remains really good at making cars.

This small and mostly very proud nation churned out 1.72 million vehicles in 2016, the highest number this century. It’s an enormous 8.5 per cent increase on 2015, which works out as nearly 1.5 million more vehicles leaving our magnificent UK factories.

Leading the charge are Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan. JLR is now the biggest producer of cars in the country, with 544,401 vehicles leaving its four British manufacturing plants. Impressive, whatever you make of the two companies combining to claim top spot… Success can be put down to strong sales of the F-Pace, Evoque and Range Rover Sport. 

Nissan sits just behind, JLR, and with just one factory. A total of 507,444 cars rolled out of its behemoth Sunderland plant, including the Qashqai, Juke and the Infiniti Q30. Out of the big makes, Mini, Toyota, Honda and Vauxhall all have factories on UK shores, and between them contributed another 650,000 cars.

That’s before you consider the plethora of deliriously fun and focused sports cars that Britain pops out. From Ariel to Zenos*, via Ginetta and Radical, there are so many small volume British cars that will blitz racetracks into submission. Don’t forget about the load luggers and commercial vehicles too – Britain’s manufacturing industry supplies white van men (and women), farmers and haulage companies across the world.

Britain is also pretty stonking at making luxury cars. Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Aston Martin have all had a good period, with the help of demand in China and the US.

The country would probably sink if all those cars stayed in the UK, so it’s probably good that eight out of ten vehicles made here are exported to more than 160 countries globally, including those in, ahem, the EU. 

 “The tremendous growth in UK production is testament to the global competitiveness of the UK automotive sector,” says Mike Hawes, who is the chief executive of SMMT, a trade association representing British carmakers.

“High class engineering, advanced technology and a workforce committed to quality have helped turn around the industry, making the UK among the most productive places in Europe to make cars.”

So there you have it. Britain really is brilliant, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Words: Ben Custard