U.K. Car Production Posts 10.3% Improvement in Q1

U.K. car production grew 9.8% in March to 159,074 units, the equivalent of a build rate of one vehicle every 16 seconds.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says overseas demand rose 14.3% in the month to 118,332 units, while production for the home market fell a slight 1.4% to 40,472.

The result left the first-quarter result up 10.3% at 443,581 units, with domestic orders up 8% at 113,928 and export demand ahead 11.1% at 329,653.

The SMMT says new productivity figures for 2015 show each employee in automotive manufacturing generated on average £79,700 ($116,900) per car produced, up 1.3% from 2014 – the highest on record.

SMMT CEO Mike Hawes says March was the busiest month for U.K. car plants in 12 years thanks to heightened international demand for British-built cars.

“Much will depend on economic and political conditions in key markets, but with several new global models starting production here in the first quarter alone, the prospects for future growth look bright,” Hawes says in a statement.

Commercial-vehicle manufacturing fell 13.0% year-on-year to 8,398 units in March, as the market rebalanced after a particularly strong performance a year earlier. The build for the home market slipped 23.7% to 3,868 units, while the export output eased 1.1% to 4,530. Despite the drop, first-quarter CV production eked out a 0.9% gain to 23,639 units, with exports up 19.8% to 12,450 and the domestic build down 14.2% at 11,189.

March engine production fell 1.5% to 227,134 units, with the build for the home market rising 24.6% to 97,326, not enough to outweigh a 14.9% fall in export orders to 57,296.

The first quarter ended with the engine build up 3.5% to 667,888 units thanks to a 26.9% rise in domestic output to 289,291, more than enough to offset a 9.3% fall in exports to 378,597.

Wales Back in Automotive Mix

The SMMT says the Welsh automotive industry kicked off the year in great health with almost £250 million ($365.3 million) of fresh investment announced for the sector in the first three months.

Welsh manufacturing sees the return of car production after an absence of 43 years as Aston Martin announces a new £200 million ($292.3 million) plant in Glamorgan and TVR announces a sports-car factory worth £30 million ($43.8 million) in the Ebbw Vale Enterprise Zone.

Hawes says Wales has become an increasingly attractive place for automotive investors with an established supply-chain sector. More than 150 components and systems companies are based in the country, employing 18,000 people and generating £3 billion ($4.4 billion) for the economy.

Toyota has pledged £7 million ($10.2 million) to produce its next generation of hybrid engines in Deeside, and £500,000 ($730,685) will be invested in new plant equipment by Dawson Shanahan, a precision cold-forming machinery specialist based in Powys.

Wales already has a strong engine-manufacturing presence, accounting for 34.3% of all engines built in the U.K. in the first three months of 2016. Welsh plants also were responsible for producing 41.3% of engines exported from the U.K. in the quarter.