Britain's car output up 7 pct in July

The total output of cars reached 893,263 units in the first seven months of this year, up 1.9 percent over the same period of last year. Mike Baunton, SMMT Interim Chief Executive, attributed the rise of car production to the positive economic growth in the country. Of the total, 192,000 cars were for domestic market in January-July, up 26.2 percent year on year, and 700,000 for exports, down 3.2 percent.

"We are starting to see slight signs of recovery from Europe which will support stronger production levels this year, and UK manufacturers will continue to build and develop innovative, high-quality products that appeal to a global customer base," Baunton said.

However, commercial vehicle makers were still facing a weak demand, with the output dropping 11.8 percent year on year to 7,940 units in July, adding the total to 56,459 units in the first seven months of this year, down 13.3 percent, despite the strong demand of exports with 20.3 percent increase in the month.

"The outlook for commercial vehicle manufacturing for the rest of the year continues to be tough, especially following the closure of the Ford facility in Southampton at the end of July," said Nigel Base, SMMT Commercial Vehicle Manager.

"However, there are some areas, such as bus and coach production, where we are continuing to see growth as operators take advantage of the wide range of vehicles built in the UK."

The SMMT figures also showed that engine manufacturing in Britain rose 26.4 percent in July to 232,545 units, bringing the total to more than 1.5 million in the first seven months, up 2.1 percent, with 11.6 percent increase for home market supplied to British car and commercial vehicle manufacturers.