The UK’s new car production in 2009 was down 30.9 per cent year on year.
At the start of 2009, many UK plants were temporarily shut down amid falling sales caused by the global credit crisis. But sales have since recovered, mainly boosted by the government-backed scrappage incentive scheme, and December’s production saw the biggest year-on-year gain since May 1976.
The SMMT’s chief executive, Paul Everitt, expects 2010 to be challenging, but is confident it will be a better year than 2009.
“The significant rise in December vehicle production is welcome news and signals some greater stability across global automotive markets,” he said.
“We expect the year ahead to be extremely challenging, but the return of economic growth and a competitive exchange rate will help UK producers. Car and commercial vehicle production remain well below pre-recession levels and it is essential that there continues to be a focus on creating more and better-priced finance for businesses and consumers.”
In total, 999,460 cars were produced in the UK in 2009 and 762,234 of these were exported.
