Professional Engineering

Car production soars 22%

UK automotive industry delivers another big rise in output – 120,000 cars were built last month

  • Published in News.

Don't stop me now: In July 119,882 cars were produced in the UK

Almost 120,000 cars were built in the UK in July, a rise of 22% over the same time a year ago. This was the 13th consecutive monthly increase in production, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

A total of 119,882 cars were produced in UK factories last month, taking the year-to-date total to 875,998, an increase of 15%.

Commercial vehicle production was down 7.7% for the first seven months of the year. There were 9,004 commercial vehicles built, down by 1.3% on a year ago.

Engine production was up 0.3% for the first seven months of this year. In the 12 months to July 2012 more than 180,100 engines were built, 1.9% down on the year to July 2011.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: “Car manufacturing continued to perform well, with output up more than 22% for the month of July 2012 and 15% for the year to date.

“While uncertainty in Europe remains a challenge, the £6 billion investment committed to the UK in the last two years delivers long-term growth opportunities and the latest figures show that our products have enormous global appeal.”

Car production has shown some huge increases this year. There was a 23% increase in February compared to the same month last year, while in May it rose more than 40% compared to May 2011. That difference was mainly owing to the fall in manufacturing last year as a result of the Japanese earthquake.

Almost 80% of cars built in the UK are exported, the figures showed.