British car manufacturing fell by 4.4% in February (compared with February 2017), as production for the home market fell by double figures, according to the latest data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) (
www.smmt.co.uk).
Exports also declined, but only by 0.8%, with the 117,139 vehicles shipped overseas accounting for more than 80% of output.
February production for the UK fell by 17.0% to 28,336 units — the seventh consecutive month of decline at home. In total, 145,475 units were produced, 6,757 fewer than in the same month last year.
Overall year-to-date output fell by 2.3%, with 292,956 units rolling off production lines in the first two months of 2018; and while domestic demand fell by 11.9%, exports were up 0.3% on the same period in 2017.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Another month of double-digit decline in production for the UK is of considerable concern. These figures also highlight the scale of our sector’s dependency on exports, so a final deal that keeps our frictionless trade links with our biggest market — the EU — after December 2020 is now a pressing priority.”
On a brighter note, double-digit growth for UK engine exports saw records broken in February, with more than a quarter of a million engines produced by British factories; exports were up 16.1% compared with February 2017, with 157,880 units going overseas — 62.0% of all output.
Engine manufacturing in the first two months of the year was up 10.3%.
Mr Hawes said: “Record UK engine production in February is good news for the industry, and a result of massive investment in high-tech factories, a productive workforce and a fully integrated and efficient supply chain.
“With six in every 10 engines built in the UK last month heading abroad, the importance of maintaining open trading links with Europe and other overseas markets is evident.”
However, matters were not so bright in the UK commercial-vehicle (CV) market, where manufacturing fell by almost a quarter (24.2%) in February, with 6,019 vehicles leaving production lines.
It was a similar picture for the first two months, down 21.6% on the same period last year. Exports still drive UK production volumes, with almost 70% of UK-built vans, trucks, buses and coaches destined for global customers.