British car production and exports up

Britain manufactured 1.5m cars in 2007 - a rise in production of six per cent on 2006 - according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Of that figure a record 1.18m vehicles went abroad, the highest number of vehicles exported ever. Three million engines were also produced in Britain in 2007.

Sales in Britain were up by 2.5 per cent to 2.4m, but only 15% of the cars bought in the country were made domestically.

From a high of 1.8m cars produced in Britain in 1999, production has slumped following high-profile closures like the MG Rover Longbridge plant and Peugeot´s Ryton plant.

But sites such as Nissan´s Sunderland plant for producing the QASHQAI; Toyota´s Burnaston factory, building the Avensis and Auris; and MINI´s Oxford plant all built over 200,000 vehicles each.

Britain´s healthy exporters were not affected by a depressed German market, strong pound, or global economic uncertainty.

"Last year, demand for new cars was stronger than many had predicted. There is little sign that the US credit crisis or rising fuel prices have affected demand, and we foresee only limited changes through 2008," said Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT.

Commercials

Commercial vehicle output was the strongest since 1998, with production up 3.1 per cent overall. CV production was at its highest level since 1997 and commercial exporters were the second highest ever.

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