UK car sector requests for more government help to cushion pandemic blow

Great Britain’s automobile industry called on the government to provide additional measures such as sales tax reduction. This aims to lift the suffering sector as a third of automotive employees remain furloughed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Car and van volumes are likely to drop by a third to 920,000 units this 2020 while one in six jobs is exposed to risk, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) industry body said.

To alleviate the struggling economy, the government launched a series of policies including a furlough scheme. This seeks to cover 80% of salaries, allocating a total of 2,500 pounds ($3,120) per month for employees who are forced to go on temporary leave.

Factory operations were halted in March in a bid to contain the spread of the virus. This led to smaller volumes of output, placing the industry at its lowest level of production in decades.