Skip advert
Advertisement

British car firms are battling with lethargy, a lack of new products and losing the will to live

Mike Rutherford is bemused by the fact most British car manufacturers failed to turn up to the 2025 Munich Motor Show

Opinion - UK car production

Britain owes Nissan of Japan a long-overdue thank you – for being the largest car producer we have in the UK. If you drive south from the firm’s impressive Sunderland factory to its Rickmansworth head office, it takes about five hours.   

Travel east in a car from Dover to Selfkant (one of the closest German towns) and the journey time is remarkably similar – assuming the cross-Channel ferries and Chunnel behave themselves.

It can often feel like we Brits and our ‘distant’ German neighbours live and work in different worlds. But the English road trip between Nissan’s Tyne and Wear factory and its Hertfordshire admin centre is 274 miles. Yet a multi-country car journey – including the sea crossing – from Dover to Selfkant in Germany’s western quarter is 20 miles shorter.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Although Britain is very detached from the European mainland, we are physically closer to Europe’s wealthiest, most productive nation than many people care to believe. Thanks to faster cross-Channel routes and free-flowing continental motorways, Brits and Germans can be considered near neighbours. As the crow flies, it’s less than 200 miles between the deep south of Britain and Germany’s most westerly point.

Germany has succeeded the US as the western world’s most successful and productive car-making nation. Also, the Germans – along with the Chinese, Japanese, Indians and South Koreans – are members of the Global Top Five club. Unlike Britain, Germany doesn’t stage an annual national motor show. Instead, it has its IAA Mobility event, which is poised to become Europe’s greatest car fest now that the Geneva show has gone.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement - Article continues below

At this month’s IAA bash in Munich, Brit brands MINI (owned by BMW) and Vauxhall (in conjunction with Opel) flew the flag for Britain. They were joined by the Germans, Chinese and South Koreans, who all played leading roles, while manufacturers from the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Sweden and Turkey also starred.

Yet with the UK’s car industry still, officially, listing four mainstream makers, seven producers of sports and premium models and 60-plus specialist firms, how come such a tiny percentage turned up at the Munich Motor Show just a few hundred miles from their factories and global HQs? I’m not sure if the problem for Brit car firms at the minute is lethargy, lack of new product or losing the will to live on the world’s automotive stage.

But I am certain that they’ve got to design, build, sell, speak and collaborate much more – if only for the sake of 800,000 UK folk who work in and around the nation’s vehicle-making industry. This month, some of their production lines have been temporarily shut down. We hope and pray these closures are not permanent. The last thing they and we need is another Rover Group-like disaster.

Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express? We’ll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Chief columnist

Mike was one of the founding fathers of Auto Express in 1988. He's been motoring editor on four tabloid newspapers - London Evening News, The Sun, News of the World & Daily Mirror. He was also a weekly columnist on the Daily Telegraph, The Independent and The Sunday Times. 

Find a car with the experts

Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

400bhp family SUVs have become common in the EV era, but they're completely pointless
Opinion - Volvo XC40 Recharge

400bhp family SUVs have become common in the EV era, but they're completely pointless

Editor Paul Barker thinks new car firms don't have heritage behind them, so power figures and straight line speed are an easy way to grab headlines
Opinion
15 Oct 2025
New Volkswagen T-Roc ride review: small SUV shows plenty of promise
Volkswagen T-Roc prototype - front

New Volkswagen T-Roc ride review: small SUV shows plenty of promise

We ride shotgun in the latest Volkswagen T-Roc, giving us a taste of what’s shaping up to be next year’s hottest small SUV
Road tests
16 Oct 2025
New Toyota C-HR+ 2025 review: electric SUV struggles for space
Toyota C-HR+ - front

New Toyota C-HR+ 2025 review: electric SUV struggles for space

The new Toyota CH-R+ has plenty of plus points, but ultimately fails to stand out from the crowded family EV class
Road tests
15 Oct 2025