BRITISH car manufacturing has hit its highest level for the year-to-date in a decade, despite a fall of 0.7 per cent last month compared with October 2014, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
A total of 1,318,452 new cars rolled off UK production lines in the first 10 months of the year, the best performance since 2005 and up 2.8 per cent year-to-date. Exports drove volumes in October, with foreign demand up 1.5 per cent, while the domestic market fell marginally month-on-month.
Some 148,976 cars rolled off UK production lines last month, down from 150,060 last October.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: ‘Despite a small drop in overall output last month, the industry has delivered a robust performance so far this year, particularly in terms of exports.
‘Given the slowdown we’ve seen in several key global markets in recent months, UK automotive manufacturing still remains in a strong position.’
On Tuesday, Europe’s trade body for the car industry, the Association of European Carmakers, reported that car sales across the EU slowed sharply in October from the month before.
Analysts suggested that buyers may have been put off purchases while they awaited the outcome of investigations into how carmakers report emissions data, sparked by the discovery that VW cheated emissions tests, the BBC reported.
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