“September's slump was to be expected after the UK's biggest carmaker faced a major cyberattack. With this event's significant impact on production, this is hardly the recovery the sector needed after the usual summer slowdown. While production has thankfully now restarted, we may witness further delays as suppliers look to reallocate resources within the wider supply chain. Ideally, we would see a post-pandemic style surge as pent-up demand finally releases, but this may take time.
“Even with growth reported elsewhere, there are still structural pressures weighing down the sector. Battery demand is growing as the industry moves towards electrification, but BEV uptake is slowing as buyers hit affordability limits and remain wary of patchy charging infrastructure. The total cost of ownership for battery electric vehicles, compared to hybrids or those with traditional internal combustion engines, is still too high to make this an appealing offering for the average consumer.
“This growing mismatch between what the industry is gearing up to build and what consumers are actually buying is the real pressure point. Without swift action to close that gap, the UK risks falling behind its global rivals.”
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