UK Car Manufacturing Increases in July : As we approach the new number plate change, it would appear that car manufacturing in the UK has increased. A range of vehicle manufacturers have had to increase their production rates in order to meet the demand of the market. This is great news, not only for the UK manufacturing industry, but also for the car and automotive industry, which appears to be getting stronger. However, the increase in car production over the July and August are predicted each year and are not definitive indications of an expanding industry.

In the latest figures, which explored the production rates of car manufacturing companies in July, the output measured by  the domestic market increased by 17.7%. This is great news for the industry, which has been experiencing a decline in output in previous months. In terms of exports, which accounts for around 80% of automotive manufacturing, output increased by 5.3%. However as part of these figures the year-to-date analysis shows that car production has experienced a dip of 1.6%.

UK car production does normally spike slightly in July, as manufacturers prepare for September’s plates change and the increase in demand that normally accompany this. There are also a number of routine factory shutdowns at the end of the summer period in order to carry out maintenance and upgrades, therefore an increase in production before this is also expected. Figures show that ahead of the summer shutdowns, there has been an increase of 7.8% in the number of cars produced in comparison to last year. This increase means that more than 136,000 vehicles were produced ahead of the planned maintenance shutdowns.

With the UK car manufacturing industry seen as fairly stable at the moment, and because of this it is thought that the production rates are expected to remain in line with the the forecasts that have been made for 2017.

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