Passenger car production in the United Kingdom has seen a further gain in September. According to the latest data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), output has increased by 15.5% year on year (y/y) to 158,281 units. As a result of this jump, year-to-date passenger car production has been further pushed in to positive territory, with growth during the nine months increasing by 3.3% y/y to 1,169,408 units.
Significance: While local demand for cars produced in the country remains strong, having increased by 20.1% y/y to 40,974 units, this has again been bolstered this month by demand from export markets which has hit 117,307 units, a gain of 13.9% y/y. According to the chief executive of the SMMT, the growth in exports reflects growth seen in key overseas markets such as Europe. IHS Automotive expects that passenger car gains so far this year will continue, but with an overall increase in 2015 of a little over 1.5% y/y to over 1.55 million units. However, an even more significant uplift will be recorded during the next couple of years when output will peak at 1.76 million units in 2017, underpinned by new models and investment that has been made by original equipment manufacturers. However, it is difficult to envision the overall light vehicle market hitting over 2 million units during 2020 as the SMMT is forecasting when we currently expect production of passenger cars to hit 1.57 million units by this point.
