Motor trade "hit hard" by energy bills

Mike Hawes, chief executive of trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said the motoring sector was being “hit hard”, and that assistance with power bills was the “industry’s number one ask”.

Addressing SMMT’s annual conference, Hawes continued: “The chancellor has recently been critical of business for a lack of investment. But investment needs stability. It needs trust, not uncertainty.”

The trade body’s analysis estimated the sector’s annual energy bill will soar by £90m in 2022. Hawes warned the cost of production in the UK is putting manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.

“UK electricity prices are the most expensive of any European automotive manufacturing country and 59 per cent higher than the EU average, meaning that last year UK manufacturers could have saved almost £50 million on energy costs if they were buying in the EU rather than the UK,” he said.

Hawes wanted the sector to get Energy Intensive Industry status and qualify for government reliefs.

He also called for the scale and scope of the Automotive Transformation Fund, which supports the supply chain’s investment in green technology, to be expanded.