UK Automotive Manufacturing on the Up

The automotive industry is a vital part of the UK economy accounting for £40bn turnover. The latest figures released from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) about UK automotive manufacturing are out look very encouraging. Car output rose by 14.8% in March 2011 and was up 13.0% over the first quarter. Whilst engine production increased by 6.5% in March and by 9.4% over quarter one.
 
Commenting on the figures, SMMT Chief Executive, Paul Everitt, said: “UK automotive manufacturing demonstrated encouraging growth across the car and engine sectors in March, continuing the strong performance of quarter one. The eighth consecutive monthly rise in car output and robust export demand indicate long-term strength and stability in the sector.”
 
This is really good news for the UK which was hit by the recession, particularly the manufacturing industry. So, is the pendulum now starting to swing in the other direction? The recession meant that many automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) who had outsourced their manufacturing overseas to cut costs (and sometimes sacrificing quality as a result) found themselves in the unfortunate position of spending a lot of time and money reallocating tools from overseas companies that had gone into liquidation. The push to manufacture in the UK has seen renewed momentum and early indications are that this will continue as more and more companies decided to ‘return to our shores’ where the UK is known for producing high-quality products.

Click here to see the figures in full.

http://www.smmt.co.uk/2011/04/smmt-automotive-manufacturing/