Over three million MINIs have been produced at the MINI Plant Oxford
Over three million MINIs have been produced at the MINI Plant Oxford
If you think that the British car industry is in decline, think again. It seems that 2016 is an outstanding year for UK automotive manufacturing.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) 443,581 cars were built between January and March this year, up 10.3% from 2015. If the rate keeps up, Britain will produce one new car every 16 seconds in 2016.
So we think it’s time to celebrate the cars coming off UK production lines. From classic home-grown companies to the international brands that manufacture in the UK, Britain’s got it made.
The MINI is synonymous with the Swinging Sixties, so it’s good to know that this British icon is still made in Oxford, at the very same factory where the first Austin MINI was produced in 1959. MINI may be owned by BMW, but over two million cars have been manufactured here since 2001, and the UK is its second biggest market after the US.
British eccentricity has always been top of the agenda at TVR, the much-loved Blackpool-based company run by the late Peter Wheeler (who once counted his dog as part of the design team!) In 2017, they’ll be launching a thrilling new collaboration between McLaren engineering genius Gordon Murray and Cosworth engines. The new TVR will be manufactured in Wales, will cost £50,000 and is set to be an instant, very British classic.
Vauxhall has been building cars in Britain on and off for 113 years, and since 2011 they’ve been running a Made in Britain campaign to encourage people to buy home-grown brands. Vauxhall Astras are still built here, and Vivaro vans were designed in Luton by Vauxhall Design Director and local Malcolm Ward. His father and grandfather also worked for the company.
Fancy a spin in a hand-built, British-made Morgan? These sports cars have been manufactured in the UK since 1903, and represent British craftsmanship at its best. If you’ve got a spare £32,000, they’ve just debuted their innovative, all-electric Morgan EV3 at the Geneva Motor Show, which goes from 0–62mph in less than nine seconds.
Swindon isn’t just the home of David Brent – it’s Honda’s UK hub. After taking a hit in the 2008 recession, the plant is now producing 120,000 cars a year and rising. What’s more, Honda has announced a £200 million investment and is making Swindon the global centre of production for the all-new Honda Civic, out next year.
Bentley still bases its operations in Crewe, Cheshire, where they’ve been making hand-crafted luxury cars for 95 years. They’re so iconic that James Bond drove one in Ian Fleming’s books (before the film version put him in the equally iconic Aston Martin). Now, on average, 25 Bentley Continentals and four Mulsanne limousines are manufactured here every day.
Obviously, the Aston Martin is a legend, with a British heritage that goes back to 1913. The Aston Martin Global HQ is located in Gaydon, Warwickshire, where all cars are still designed and engineered, ensuring the thorough Britishness of the brand.
When Nissan opened a factory in the North-East of England in 1986 it was a gamble, but now its Sunderland plant is a shining example of British manufacturing, employing 6700 workers and making over 500,000 cars a year, including the Juke and Qashqai.
Owned by Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover is still the UK’s largest automotive employer with 24,000 workers at its manufacturing plant in the Midlands, while the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport are made in Halewood, near Liverpool. The company has just announced record-breaking sales figures.
Derbyshire is the unlikely home of the Toyota Avensis and Auris, both produced at their Burnaston plant. It was also the first factory in Europe to create a full hybrid vehicle, the Auris Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) putting Britain at the leading edge of innovative car design.
