UK passenger car production grows strongly in October

but commercial vehicle output falls

Vehicle manufacturing in the United Kingdom continued to improve during October. According to the latest data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), UK passenger car output increased by 17.4% year on year (y/y) to 160,854 units in the month. This has helped lift the year-to-date (YTD) figure for this category further into positive territory, with an increase of 5.4% y/y to 1,286,287 units. However, the trade association also reported that commercial vehicle output tumbled by 33.8% y/y to 7,875 units last month, meaning that output in the YTD has now fallen by 19.9% y/y to 79,484 units.