Continued UK car production, One Million cars so far this year

Published Date: 25th Aug 2016

The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders released new figure this month detailing July and year to date, UK car production figures.

• Total output up 7.6% for July for a total of 126,566 cars
• The first time the 1 million mark has been reached in July since 2004
• Growth for both home and export markets as new models increase demand

July 2016 was the 12th consecutive month of rising UK car production. Seeing year to date production grow by 12.3% on last year to 1,023,723 units.

This is the best performance since the year 2000 and the first time in twelve years volumes exceeded 1 million in the first seven months of the year.

Demand for newly released models across the globe is the main reason for the boost, with exports up by 6% and cars destined for UK forecourts rose by 14.1%.

An outstanding year to date figure of 796,323 units means over three quarters of a million cars are exported out of the UK to showrooms around the world.

Mike Hawes, Chief Executive, SMMT, said, “UK car production in 2016 is booming, with new British-built models in demand across the world. Manufacturers have invested billions to develop exciting new models and produce them competitively here in the UK. Future success will depend on continued new car demand and attracting the next wave of investment so Britain must demonstrate it remains competitive and open for business.”