LONDON, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Britain's car manufacturing shrank by 32.4 percent year on year during the first quarter of 2022 due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductors and other components, an industry report said on Thursday.

       With almost 100,000 fewer units made than in the same period last year, only 207,347 new cars were built during the first three months of 2022, according to the report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the trade association for the British motor industry.

       In March, output fell by 33.4 percent year on year to 76,900 units, driven primarily by a decrease in production for overseas markets, making it the weakest March since 2009 when the global financial crisis was raging, the report said.

       Exports to the United States also saw "the greatest decrease" during March, dropping by 63.8 percent year-on-year, largely because a major plant in Swindon, England, shut down in July 2021 which manufactured for the U.S. market, the report added.

       "Two years after the start of the pandemic, automotive production is still suffering badly," said SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes. "Recovery has not yet begun and, with a backdrop of an increasingly difficult economic environment, including escalating energy costs, urgent action is needed to protect the competitiveness of UK manufacturing."

       Hawes called for Britain to be at the forefront of the transition to electrified vehicles, "not just as a market but as a manufacturer."