Car production soars 16% as premium manufacturers enjoy rising demand
CAR production in the UK soared by more than 16% in August further underlining the strength of the industry.
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show UK manufacturers built 91,282 cars last month, a 16.2% rise on 2012 (12,705 units).
The third successive monthly gain pushed year-to-date volumes up 3.1% to 984,545 units and analysts said the growth was fuelled by increasing demand both in the UK and the Eurozone – although the figures could be flattered by weak comparables.
Nevertheless, the SMMT said the performance was impressive as August is typically the year’s smallest volume, due to summer/retooling breaks in production.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “UK car manufacturing is continuing to grow with global automotive brands building on UK-based design, R&D and engineering expertise to produce some of the world’s most dynamic, dependable and desirable vehicles.
“Despite August typically being one of the year’s quietest months due to summer breaks, the past 12 months has been the most productive since late 2008.”
John Leech, Birmingham-based UK head of automotive at KPMG, added: “Soaring UK car production is being fuelled by rising demand from both the UK and the Eurozone. Yet these figures may be flattered by the poor results this time last year, when the Greek and Spanish debt crises were gathering momentum.
“Nevertheless, with UK car sales almost back at pre-recession levels and with demand from Europe having bottomed out, I remain confident UK car production will rise again this year, the fourth year in succession. Indeed, the outlook beyond 2013 looks positive and I forecast further increases in production in 2014, 2015 and peaking in 2016 at around 1.9m cars.”
He said one notable point in the results was that as a result of the UK increasingly making higher priced cars – such as those rolling off the production lines at Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, Bentley and Rolls-Royce, the forecast trade surplus on cars was projected to be a record £8bn in 2016.
The situation was less impressive in the commercial vehicle sector where weak EU demand and domestic restructuring meant further declines in volumes.
Commercial vehicle output was down 51.1% to 3,694 units in August and year-to-date output is down 16.6% in the first eight months at 60,646 units. Output is expected to remain subdued throughout 2013.
“Focused almost entirely on the European market, UK commercial vehicle manufacturing has been impacted by ongoing uncertainly in Eurozone countries, model changes and restructuring of some domestic operations,” said Hawes,
“We expect overall commercial vehicle output to remain negative through the rest of the year, but some sectors may fare better with recent increases in demand for UK-built trucks and buses.”
On the engine front, production remained stable over the first eight months of 2013, up 0.3%.
Typically subdued August volumes saw output down 16.4% at 124,614 units. Month and year-to-date production levels improved for the home market, while exports declined due to weak demand from Europe.
