APC report: UK can grow ZEV manufacturing share by acting on 'deployment ready' technology
The Advanced Propulsion Centre UK says battery, electric drive unit and power electronics manufacturing offer the biggest growth opportunity for UK automotive, but warns UK production volumes have declined since 2019 and the sector's competitive position is under increasing pressure amid rising costs and growing competition from China.
The Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) published a report on 15 October 2026, titled 'UK Zero Emission Vehicle Manufacturing: Competitiveness and strategic priorities for the sector', concluding that the UK has the potential to capture a greater share of zero-emission and next-generation automotive technology manufacturing.
The insight report assesses the competitiveness of the UK's ZEV manufacturing value chain and identifies the areas with the greatest potential to increase productivity, strengthen supply chains and drive economic growth, according to APC, examining where cost, labour intensity, automation potential and supply-chain risk converge and where the UK can capture the greatest value. The assessment comes against a backdrop in which, APC says, UK automotive production volumes have declined since 2019, while rising labour and energy costs, structural change across Europe, shifting global investment and growing competition from China are reshaping the economics of automotive manufacturing and putting the industry's competitive position under increasing pressure.
APC's analysis finds that high-value electrification technologies — batteries, electric drive units and power electronics — offer the greatest growth opportunity for UK manufacturing, while productivity improvements through automation are critical in labour-intensive manufacturing segments. The report argues that improving competitiveness is not solely a question of developing new technologies: proven solutions such as manufacturing execution systems, digital twins, automation, robotics and AI-enabled process optimisation are already available and deployment ready, with the priority being to accelerate their adoption across manufacturers and suppliers at scale. Electrification itself, APC says, creates opportunities to increase productivity and modernise manufacturing.
Dr Hadi Moztarzadeh, APC's Head of Technology Trends, said: "The UK has a clear opportunity to boost the competitiveness of its automotive manufacturing sector by continued targeted investment in high-value technologies such as battery and electrified powertrain technologies. Our world-leading engineering expertise, established automotive manufacturing clusters, strong research and innovation base, and close collaboration between industry, government and academia provide a solid foundation for attracting investment and capturing a greater share of value from the growing ZEV market. While batteries, electric drive units and power electronics are critical growth areas, manufacturing competitiveness extends far beyond electrification technologies alone. A successful automotive sector depends on strong capabilities across the entire vehicle value chain. To maximise this opportunity, targeted action is required to strengthen high-value ZEV supply chains, accelerate automation and digitalisation, improve supply chain competitiveness, and support closer collaboration across the automotive ecosystem."
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