Annual Salary
£26,000 to £48,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Maintenance or Manufacturing or go back to all job sectors or go to green jobs
Swap to Maintenance or Manufacturing or go back to all job sectors or go to green jobs
Automotive engineers design, test and build cars, vans, lorries, buses and motorbikes.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings; on shifts
There will be
2.4% more Automotive engineer jobs in 2027.
You might work in design, development or production on:
You could:
You could work in an office, at a research facility or at a manufacturing plant.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in automotive engineering.
Employers will often accept related subjects, such as:
Many universities offer courses that combine a degree with a postgraduate master's engineering (MEng) qualification.
Choosing a course that includes an internship or industry placement can give you an advantage when looking for jobs. It can also help if you want to join a company's graduate training scheme.
You'll usually need:
You could apply for a place on a degree apprenticeship scheme, with a vehicle manufacturer, for example:
These take around 4 to 5 years to complete and combine on-the-job training with university study.
If you already have a degree in a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subject, you may be able to do a Postgraduate Engineer Level 7 Apprenticeship with an automotive employer.
You'll usually need:
Keeping up to date with developments in vehicle technology and manufacture could help you with applications and interviews. Trends include:the shift to electric vehicles, and research into alternative fuels; digital design and manufacturing of parts by 3D printing; research into semi-autonomous and self-driving vehicles; connectivity within and between vehicles, and traffic management systems
You can find out more about careers in the automotive industry through:Society of Motor Industry Manufacturers; Your Future in Automotive; Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI)
With experience, you could move into:lead engineer roles; project team management; safety and legal compliance; crash investigation; consultancy work; motorsport
Automotive engineers will be needed as green automotive technologies are emerging fast, introducing new models including, electric, hybrid and driverless vehicles. Automotive software developers and CAD design skills are in demand to create and design software that makes electric cars run.
Click here to find a local provider
Click here to search for a local apprenticeship
Click here to search for other university courses
For more information on the different routes you can take to get into working as an automotive engineer, take a look at the 'Routes into this job' section above.
Click here for an explanation of the different course and apprenticeship levels.
For more local employment opportunities see the 'Live job vacancies by region' section above.
Click here for a profile of Matt Oshinowo, a PHD Student Research at the University of Bath Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies.
You'll need: