August U.K. Car Output Up 40.6%: CV Builds Up 70.3%

The looming end to summer saw U.K. automakers change gear, pushing production up 40.6% in August to 99,910 units.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says the result left year-to-date output up 1.6% at 1,011,127 units.
SMMT CEO Mike Hawes says the quieter summer months traditionally are subject to fluctuation as production is paused for essential upgrades.

“August’s strong growth wasn’t unexpected given the 22.1% fall in the same month last year when the 2014 holiday period fell,” Hawes says in a statement.

“The rise also follows a flatter July in line with this year’s earlier scheduled shutdown.” That said, with an overall increase of 1.6% so far in 2015 and the strongest year-to-date performance since 2008, the industry is in a good position.”

The August build for the home front rose 45.6% to 26,691 units, while the export market rose 38.8% to 73,219.
After eight months, production for the domestic market was up 11.1% at 237,438 units, more than enough to offset a 1.0% fall in export production to 773,689.

Meantime, commercial-vehicle manufacturing continued its recovery in August as it posted a seventh consecutive month of growth.

August production soared 70.3% year-on-year to 3,628 units, pushing the year-to-date volume up 34.1% to 61,595.

“It is particularly encouraging to see the industry continue to bounce back following a 2014 performance subdued by regulatory changes and industry restructuring,” Hawes says. Fleet-operator renewal patterns are now returning to normal.

The CV build for the U.K. market jumped 59.6% to 1,961 units, while the export build soared 85.0% to 1,667.
This left U.K. year-to-date output up 37.8% at 31,496 units and production for offshore markets up 30.4% at 30,099.