SMMT: CJRS extension welcome, but showrooms must stay open

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a five-month extension to the furlough scheme is good news for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes described the decision to prolong the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which pays employees 80 per cent of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500, a “welcome lifeline” in a challenging environment of car showroom closures and lockdown. But he stresses that government support won’t suffice to keep the country’s vehicle manufacturers afloat.

“Importantly, we need demand to be maintained from showroom traffic to sustain our critical manufacturing base, so this closure instruction was very disappointing,” Hawes continues. “We need every manufacturer and every retailer to hold on to skilled, viable jobs so, given car showrooms are some of the most Covid-safe retail environments possible, we hope that they will be able to open quickly, and remain open, avoiding a long-term dependency on furlough.”