UK: Car Industry Calls for Help from Government on Rising Energy Bills

The car industry of the United Kingdom has called for help from the government of the United Kingdom with the continuous increase in energy costs as it is also facing the prospect of further bills related to Brexit.

The increasing price of energy, along with the shortages of computer chips and delays in the parts supply caused by the coronavirus lockdowns in the vital supply markets like China and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, have combined to affect the manufacturers.

The energy cost has been increased of around 50 percent in 2022 and will be leaving the car industry of the United Kingdom paying an extra 90 million pounds, as estimated by SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders). The SMMT said, the energy prices for the factories in the United Kingdom had been 59 percent higher than the European average before 2022, which is an annual disadvantage of 50 million pounds for the car industry.

The automobile industry does not count as an energy-intensive industry and hence does not qualify for help from the UK government under the existing programmes, even though battery production does qualify.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of SMMT said, the energy costs have been hitting the consumers, but they are also hitting the production companies. They have no price cap and is also addressing the high energy costs of the United Kingdom, which has been the number one ask of the industry.