Best August for 14 years for UK car industry as home and export demand grows
THE UK car industry enjoyed its busiest August for 14 years last month, latest figures have shown.
There was growth in the volume of cars produced for both the home (6.2%) and export (10.2%) markets.
Figures produced by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show car manufacturing output increased 9.1% to 109,004 units last month compared with August last year.
The strong performance has also helped to grow the year-to-date figures with the 1,132,727 vehicles produced so far this year, up 12% on the first eight months of last year when the figure was 1,011,203.
For the home market, 27,804 vehicles rolled off production lines in August, with the total designed for exports coming in at 81,200 – meaning almost three quarters of the cars produced last month are designed for overseas markets.
In the year-to-date, 877,523 cars have been built for international customers – 13.3% more than in the same period last year, helping to demonstrate the ongoing international appeal of British-built vehicles.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “August’s strong performance is good news for car makers and welcome news for the UK economy, which depends on this thriving sector for an increasing share of UK exports.
“British car producers are exporting a diverse range of high quality, attractive new models that are in demand across the world thanks to multi billion pound investments made in UK plants over the past few years. Future success depends on continued investment in plant and products and that in turn depends on the UK maintaining internationally competitive business and trading conditions.”
There was also positive news for the UK engine manufacturing industry, which saw a 19.8% rise in output during August to 135,063 units.
Demand in the home market grew production 49.1%, with an increase in the year-to-date performance of 33.9% to 737,673 units.
However, the picture was slightly more disappointing for exports, with the number of engines produced for overseas markets dipping 1.1%. in the year-to-date, engine production for export has dipped 8.1%.
“UK engine manufacturing volumes returned to growth in August as production lines came back online following the summer shutdown,” said Mr Hawes.
“Domestic demand was particularly strong thanks to billions invested last year in supply for UK car factories. Production for export dipped slightly, although it retains the lion’s share of output, underlining the need to safeguard the global trading conditions that have kept this sector competitive in recent years.”
The commercial vehicle sector continues to struggle. UK commercial vehicle production fell 12.2% in August to 3,185 units. Domestic production was down 4%, with the overseas market down 21.9%.
“Underlying demand for UK CV production is broadly stable, despite the headline falls that are predominantly due to a strong performance in 2015 driven by regulatory changes that altered fleet renewal patterns,” said Mr Hawes.
“It’s a trend we expect to continue throughout the year. For long term strength to be upheld, maintaining competitive trading conditions and global demand will be vital.”
