Engineering news
UK car manufacturers reported their 11th consecutive month of growth in June, according to figures released by SMMT.
Production grew 10% to 158,641 units – the highest level for the month since 1998, when volumes reached 172,232.
The performance closes the industry’s best first half for 16 years, with 897,157 cars rolling off production lines so far in 2016, an increase of 13% on the same period last.
Exports drove volumes, with year-to-date demand up 15% to 695,139 units, while production for the domestic market also grew 7%.
Meanwhile, UK commercial vehicle manufacturing saw a decline in June. The figures showed that 7,686 CVs were built in Britain last month, down 22% compared with the previous year as the market rebalanced following a particularly strong performance in June 2015.
Overall 47,621 CVs have been produced so far in 2016 – a slight decrease of 2%. Exports have increased by 3% in the year-to-date, with more than half of UK-built CVs sold overseas.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Disruption to fleet renewal patterns triggered by type approval changes last year meant manufacturing output spiked by more than half in June 2015. As a result, this year’s June performance was always going to be negative so the drop is no surprise.
“The market remains at a high level, buoyed by continuing resurgence in key EU markets, with more than half of UK CV output sold overseas,” he added.