UK probably needs large new factory to meet target of 1.3m cars a year, say industry boss

The Jaguar Land Rover facility in Solihull. Hawes called it ‘the toughest year in a generation’. Photograph: Matt Crossick/Alamy

A target of building 1.3m cars a year is likely to be missed unless a large new UK factory is built in the coming years, an industry group has said, as Keir Starmer prepares to hold trade talks in China.

Labour aims to have 1.3m vehicles rolling off production lines by 2035, a central ambition of its industrial strategy. That would nearly double the 764,715 cars and vans made in 2025, according to new data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).