UK Car Sales Local vs Import: 1981-2013

128,000 Ford Sierras were made in the UK in 1983

Comparing the locally made and imported share of the UK market (1960-80 can be accessed by clicking here), the 1980's were pretty stable. Therefore I didn't add those years to the list below. So how did these decades pan out?

1980's: Despite the market growing well in this period, local car makers grew even faster. This was a better time for UK car production as local percentage went from 41% in 1981 to 44% in 1990. The Metro and 200 models from BL were doing well, the Ford's Fiesta and Escort were rolling out of Dagenham in goodly numbers, Vauxhall were doing fine with the Astra and Cavalier models while Nissan had arrived and was ramping up Bluebird production. It looked like a corner had been turned.

The Rover Metro/100 was a winner for UK customers. She looks happy

1990's: Remember, this is a soap opera and there is always plenty of twists in such shows. The good was that Toyota (Carina & Corolla) and Honda (Accord & Civic) arrived, while Nissan had added the Micra. Vauxhall was doing well with the Vectra and Astra. However, most of that production was for export. The Rover Group (formerly BL) was more a local car maker than exporter, and that was in decline. BMW had bought it mid decade and frankly made a mess of it (see the proof by clicking here). So the 90's ended up with just 26% locally made.

Always popular in Britain

2000's: Domestically made cars in the UK took a tumble this decade. The Phoenix Consortium took some of the Rover Group and created MG Rover. It soon withered and went belly up. Ford and Peugeot decided to end car making in the UK. Ford continued with design work and engine building which compensated, but PSA cynically moved to Slovakia. BMW did get things very right with the MINI, Land Rover had a blossoming range of vehicles and the Japanese car makers showed loyalty by sticking with the UK (PSA take note). Nevertheless, much of this was for export and the UK production share in its home market nearly touched a mere 10%.

2010's: With the history lesson nearly over, the last three years of the chart showed small but encouraging signs. The Nissan Qashqai has helped with UK citizens almost taking it as their own (local design and manufacture not enough for some), as too the Juke model (Note & Leaf also made in Sunderland).

The Nissan Qashqai. As British as fish 'n chips and a pint

Summary: The British car maker's share of their local market has been truly a soap opera. With Vauxhall only making one model now, Ford (also seen as a UK Brand) not actually making cars there, and MG Rover well gone, the import will continue to dominate. It's hard for most in the UK to see Nissan, Toyota and Honda as local producers to support. MINI, Land Rover and Jaguar are seen that way of course, with only some moaning about these being foreign owned. I say be glad for what you have. The industry could have died off completely.

Yr	Total	Local	% local	Import	% impt
91	1,592,326	631,824	39.7%	960,502	60.3%
92	1,593,601	707,579	44.4%	886,022	55.6%
93	1,779,296	814,173	45.8%	965,123	54.2%
94	1,911,933	854,124	44.7%	1,057,809	55.3%
95	1,945,366	763,246	39.2%	1,182,120	60.8%
96	2,025,450	760,731	37.6%	1,264,719	62.4%
97	2,170,725	738,494	34.0%	1,432,231	66.0%
98	2,247,403	729,217	32.4%	1,518,186	67.6%
99	2,197,615	649,279	29.5%	1,548,336	70.5%
00	2,221,647	578,462	26.0%	1,643,185	74.0%
01	2,458,769	598,151	24.3%	1,860,618	75.7%
02	2,563,631	582,266	22.7%	1,981,365	77.3%
03	2,579,050	513,798	19.9%	2,065,252	80.1%
04	2,567,269	467,160	18.2%	2,100,109	81.8%
05	2,439,717	411,245	16.9%	2,028,472	83.1%
06	2,344,864	335,992	14.3%	2,008,872	85.7%
07	2,404,007	349,108	14.5%	2,054,899	85.5%
08	2,131,795	318,033	14.9%	1,813,762	85.1%
09	1,994,999	237,226	11.9%	1,757,773	88.1%
10	2,030,846	309,024	15.2%	1,721,822	84.8%
11	1,941,253	219,134	11.3%	1,722,119	88.7%
12	2,044,609	252,875	12.4%	1,791,734	87.6%
13	2,264,737	308,367	13.6%	1,956,370	86.4%

Data source: The SMMT I assume is the original source.