A new era of British-Chinese automotive sector collaboration is underway as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) today agrees a Co-operation Agreement with its Chinese counterpart, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The agreement was announced at a reception hosted by the Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for International Trade and SMMT Chief Executive, Mike Hawes, and is designed to help develop mutual understanding and co-operation between both automotive industries to create new business opportunities.
China is the world’s largest automotive market, with more than 23 million new cars registered last year, and a key export destination for UK-made cars, behind only the EU and US. More than 6% of all British-made models sent overseas in 2018 were shipped to China, with buyers attracted to the premium, luxury and sports marques made in this country, including Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren and MINI. At the same time over 10,000 Chinese-made cars were registered on UK roads.
While the UK is Europe’s fourth largest automotive manufacturer, producing 1.52 million cars in 2018, China is by far the biggest globally, producing more than 23 million cars in the same period. Production has increased dramatically across the last decade, up 248% since 2008, with an ever-increasing number of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery electric and plug-in hybrid models made – totalling some 1.27 million last year.1
The opportunities for growth are clear, built on mutual trust and a desire to develop the trading relationship between China and the UK that goes back decades. British investment into the Chinese automotive sector started in the eighties, with GKN the first western company to invest in the country’s component industry in 1988.2 Today it has some 19 manufacturing locations across China employing more than 8,000 people. Meanwhile, world-renowned British car manufacturers including Aston Martin, Bentley and McLaren have all established dealer networks across China with Jaguar Land Rover producing cars in the country since 2014.
Please click here to view the full press release.
SOURCE: SMMT
