SMMT News

The Welsh automotive industry kicked off 2016 in rude health as almost quarter of a billion pounds of fresh investment was announced for the sector in the first three months of the year, according to research revealed today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

UK car production grows 9.8% in March, with 159,074 cars built – one every 16 seconds. 443,581 cars made in the first quarter, rising 10.3% as productivity reaches record levels. Q1 demand up at home and abroad, with domestic output…

Find out who has joined the premier automotive trade association and what they get from membership. New members – April 2016

Advances in van safety technology could be undermined by dangerous overloading, warns SMMT. Almost nine in 10 (88.5%) of the 2,381 vans weighed last year by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) were found to be overloaded, a worse record than the previous year in which 84% of the 3,337 checked were illegal.

New figures released today show the number of vans on Britain’s roads has hit an all time high of 4 million. According to Motorparc data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a total of 4,007,331 vans are in use on UK roads, a 4.3% increase since the previous year.

SMMT’s weekly round-up, including all the latest news from UK automotive and a message from SMMT’s Chief Executive. SMMT Update 415.

1. Government diesel emissions testing report published
2. HM Treasury publishes analysis on EU membership

1. EU transport and environment ministers meet in Amsterdam
2. European Commission hosts road transport conference
3. European Parliament publishes appraisal on Type Approval impact assessment

Commercial vehicle registrations in Europe were 12.1% higher in the first quarter of the year than for the same period in 2015. Total commercial vehicle registrations rose by 8% in March, making it the 15th consecutive month of growth for…

Industry is assessing the results from the tests carried out by government as part of the review announced in the autumn. What is immediately clear is that the vehicles tested met the legal standards with no new evidence that any…