Vehicle manufacturing in the UK improved in April as production of passenger cars offset the declines reported by commercial vehicles. According to the latest data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), passenger car output grew by 16.6% year-on-year (y/y) during the month to 110,033 units. This has helped to bring the year-to-date (YTD) production for this category back into positive territory, with a gain of 1.5% y/y to 495,777 units. However, the trade association added that commercial vehicle output slid by 3.3% y/y to 8,623 units as output in the YTD has now fallen by 15.2% y/y to 38,284 units.
Significance: This is a positive turn of events for manufacturing in the country, but it should be noted that some of the reason for this improvement has stemmed from the greater number of working days in the month with Easter shifting into March. Nevertheless, the data shows that this has been partly helped by an 8.4% y/y increase in passenger cars exports to 87,755 units. However, many units are also staying local in order to capitalise on the current upswing in the market. Despite Ford's decision to halt production of its Transit in the UK, the long-term prospects for the industry suggest that it is in its best shape for many years. Significant investments have been announced by several manufacturers over the past two years, with the most notable being Nissan, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and GM. In the nearer term though, the SMMT is anticipating that passenger-car output in the country will grow overall during 2013. However, IHS Automotive anticipates that 2013 passenger car production in the country will witness a decline of 0.4% y/y to 1.47 million compared to 2012, although growth will return in 2014, and more substantial gains are anticipated during the second half of the decade. LCVs, however, will be significantly hampered by the withdrawal of Ford though.
