The UK’s automotive sector describes itself as “the engine room of Britain’s international trade”, boasting how it generates “£1 in every £8 the UK earns from exporting goods”.
But the UK’s carmakers – including Jaguar and Land Rover owner JLR, the BMW-owned Rolls-Royce and Mini, and Aston Martin – are weighing up the potential impact of Donald Trump’s planned 25% tariffs on cars imported into the US. The new levies on cars and light trucks are due to take effect on 3 April.
Of the nearly 780,000 cars produced in Britain in 2024, eight in 10 were destined for overseas, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Of the vehicles produced for international markets, almost 80% – representing 467,937 units – were exported to the top three markets: the EU, the US and China.
While the EU remains the top market for British-made cars, the US is the second most important market, representing just under a fifth (16.9%) of car exports in 2024.
By contrast, just 18,000 US-made vehicles were imported into the UK last year.
If blanket tariffs are imposed on 3 April, the UK’s car industry is likely to be caught up in them, although some in business have been holding out hope that a post-Brexit UK-US economic deal could finally be forthcoming.
Most of the UK-made cars exported to the US are premium, such as Volkswagen-owned Bentley, while others are high-end vehicles such as McLaren supercars, selling just over 2,100 annually, some costing upwards of £250,000.
UK-based makers of high-end cars have traditionally been more reliant on US sales, whereas high-volume car manufacturers, including Japanese companies Nissan and Toyota, have built cars in the UK for the European market.
Luxury vehicle companies, some of whom have models with a starting price of £100,000 and rising to multiples of that figure, will hope they are able to pass the cost of tariffs on to wealthier customers without knocking their sales.
Nissan
Nissan operates the largest car plant in the UK in Sunderland, where it manufactures the Qashqai, Juke and all-electric Leaf. More than 284,000 cars rolled off the production lines there in 2024.
The Sunderland plant was intended as a crucial manufacturing hub for the European market, which has remained the case since Brexit, and it does not currently export to the US market from the UK.
Nissan has sizeable manufacturing operations outside Japan, particularly in the US, Mexico and China.
Toyota
The hybrid version of Toyota’s Corolla, primarily destined for the European market, is built at the Japanese company’s car plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire.
More than 5m cars have rolled off the production line there since it opened in 1992, with almost 133,000 Corolla hybrid vehicles built there in the year ending March 2024. Toyota’s UK arm said in its most recent set of annual accounts that the success of Corolla sales in Europe meant it expected to produce the vehicle at Burnaston for European destinations for the rest of its model life.
Mini
The three- and five-door versions of the petrol Mini Cooper as well as the new Mini Cooper convertible models are all made at Mini’s plant on the outskirts of Oxford.
It produces cars which are destined for both the UK market and overseas, including the US.
Just over 26,000 Mini brand vehicles were sold in the US in 2024, according to BMW’s North American operations, although this was 21% lower than the 33,500 cars it sold there in 2023.
Mini’s owner, BMW, said the company “remains committed to reducing tariffs and trade barriers between the EU and the USA, which would benefit consumers in both regions.”
Rolls-Royce
All of Rolls-Royce’s cars are built at its manufacturing facility in Goodwood, in West Sussex. The brand, owned by Germany’s BMW since 2003, sold 5,712 cars in 2024. The US is its largest sales region, although the company has previously said that global demand meant it was not dependent on any single market.
The company said it was “evaluating the announcements [on tariffs] in detail”.
Bentley
Crewe-based Bentley produces the company’s five models including the Continental GT and the Bentayga.
Owned by Germany’s auto giant Volkswagen since 1998, Bentley describes itself as a “major UK exporter”, adding: “We continue to advocate for open markets and stable trade relations. These are essential for a competitive economy and especially for the automotive industry.”
Bentley delivered 10,600 vehicles in 2024, of which 30% – or 3,180 – were exported to the US. Bentley has said it will no longer disclose how many cars it produces each year.
The carmaker’s chief financial officer, Jan-Henrik Lafrentz, told reporters earlier in Marchthat Trump’s introduction of 25% tariffs would ultimately be added on to customers’ bills.
“We are assessing different scenarios on how to handle it, but it will be finally passed on to the consumer,” Lafrentz said.
Aston Martin
Aston Martin, famed as the manufacturer of cars driven by James Bond on film, makes cars at Gaydon in Warwickshire and St Athan in Wales. The US is its key market.
The loss-making manufacturer generated around a third of its £1.6bn revenue for 2024 in the US, outstripping the revenue it made in the UK and Asia Pacific combined. It sold 6,030 cars in 2024, a drop of 9% on the prior year.
McLaren
The supercar maker produced 2,137 cars in 2023, the last year for which figures are available, of which just over a third, or 787 vehicles, were exported to North America, by far its most important overseas market.
McLaren said deliveries across the Atlantic jumped in the first three months of 2024, when there was “strong uptake” of its 750S Coupe and Spider models, all produced at its factory in Woking, Surrey.
