SMMT or the Society of Motor Manufacturer has confirmed that the car manufacturing companies in the UK produced more than 1.5 million vehicles in 2014, which is the highest number of vehicles since 2007. The society has also confirmed that demand for the premium brands and powerful engines has been increased in past several years.
Brands like Jaguar and Land Rover helped boost annual sales by an overall 1.2% in the last year. The sales increase caused an increase in production units but at the same time number of exports also decreased. The production rate was very high in the last year where a car was produced every 20 seconds.
SMMT’s chief executive Mike Hawes said, “Placed in context, a 1.2% growth in UK car manufacturing in 2014 represents a very successful year.The industry has overcome various challenges, including slower than expected EU recovery and weakness in some global markets.”
He also admitted that the demand of the premium brands and specialist models has played a vital role in the success of the automotive industry. The overall value of the exports had also doubled since 2007 but in the last year it gradually fell down. A hefty investment of £7 billion has been announced for the production facilities of the automotive sector in past two years.
Nissan production facility in Sunderland has built the maximum number of cars as any single British-based manufacturer. They produced 500,238 units in this period while other production facilities have the following figures.
Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull production facilities of JLR have produced 449,507 vehicles in this period. Production facilities of MINI, based in Cowley and Oxford developed 178,993 units. Toyota plants in Burnaston and Derby produced 172,215 units collectively; however Honda’s Swindon plant produced 121,799 cars. Vauxhall Ellesmere Port manufactured 77,836 cars in last year.
