The SMMT is the leading trade association for the UK motor industry. It supports the interests of the UK automotive industry at home and abroad, promoting a united position to government, stakeholders and the media. The automotive industry is a vital part of the UK economy accounting for £59 billion turnover and £12 billion value added. With more than 700,000 jobs dependent on the industry, it accounts for 10% of total UK exports and invests £1.7 billion each year in automotive R&D.
SMMT member companies range from manufacturers of all types of vehicle, component and material suppliers to power train providers and design engineers. SMMT hosts specialist groups discussing technology, policy, communications and strategy. Climate change and CO2 feature largely in all these groups. SMMT recognises the challenge of a lower carbon transport system, publishing annual reports on sustainability and new car CO2.
Since 2000, huge strides have been made to reduce the environmental impact of its products throughout the life cycle. Improvements in manufacturing processes mean that in the last decade, energy used to produce each vehicle is down 43%, water use has been cut by 48% and 83% less waste enters landfill sites. Average new car tailpipe CO2 emissions have also been slashed and are down 23% versus 10 years ago to 133g/km CO2.
For more details, see SMMT’s Sustainability Report at www.smmt.co.uk/publications.
Please contact Konstanze Scharring for information and detail on how the UK automotive sector is responding to the low carbon challenge.