10:06 am, March 26, 2013
THE UK car industry is Britain’s second biggest supplier of vehicles, according to recent SMMT car census data, with buyers seemingly becoming ever more patriotic.
In 2012, only cars produced in Germany managed to overtake the number made in the UK on our streets – with firms like Nissan, Toyota, Jaguar, Land Rover, and many more contributing a great number of cars to Britain’s roads.
Worcester was the UK’s ‘most patriotic place’, according to the SMMT, with over 25 per cent of cars on its streets built in the UK. The top British built car in the town was the best-selling Nissan Qashqai, produced in Sunderland.
The data also revealed that Slough was the UK’s most ‘fuel efficient’ location, with average fuel economy in the town topping 50mpg and over 60 per cent of vehicles diesel powered.
By contrast, the City of London had both the highest concentrations of ‘alternatively fuelled’ vehicles, and the UK’s largest average engine size at 2.5-litres. Also in London, Kensington and Chelsea motorists were the most likely to ‘go topless’ – owning the highest proportion of convertibles.
The number of sub-100g/km vehicles across the industry ‘rocketed’ last year, the SMMT reports, increasing their share of the market twofold to 8.2 per cent in 2012.
Things are also looking positive for the 2015 EU emissions target of 130g/km – with over 50 per cent of the market sneaking under that level in 2012, and average emissions across the market now 133.1g/km.
