SMMT News

Find out who has joined the premier automotive trade association and what they get from membership: New members – March 2018

UK engine production dips -3.7% in March as demand from UK car plants falls for second month. Exports provide counterweight to domestic market challenges, up 4.8% in the month and 12.1% YTD. Q1 demand remains 5.0% above 2017 levels, with…

British commercial vehicle production declines for seventh month in March, down -10.8% to 7,145 units. Export demand broadly steady, down -1.6%, with just 79 fewer CVs shipped overseas compared with previous March. Considerable decline in home demand, with both March…

147,471 cars roll off UK production lines in March, down -13.3% on same month in 2017.
Output for home market falls for eighth consecutive month, by -17.7%, with exports also dropping -11.9%.
Q1 manufacturing down -6.3% year on year to 440,426 units, with eight in 10 shipped overseas.
SMMT restates need to maintain frictionless UK-EU trade, highlighting importance of automotive to Britain’s economy and jobs.

Almost 9 in 10 (88%) British consumers say reduced or restricted services from CV-driven services would significantly affect their quality of life. New survey shows extent of British people’s reliance on CVs for their day-to-day lives, with 46% recognising they…

UK’s biggest automotive analysis by SMMT reveals changing face of British car ownership, with female buyers up 21% in a decade to 11.8 million. New SMMT Motorparc data shows diversity of cars on UK roads, with more than 1,500 different…

UK new van registrations fall -5.6% in March, with just under 60,000 hitting UK roads. Uplift in demand for smaller vans (1.8%) and pickups (6.8%) fails to offset declines for medium (-2.0%) and heavier (-10.5%) models. More than 94,000 new…

Plug-In Car Grant: Since the launch of the Plug-In Car Grant in January 2011, there have been 140,381 eligible cars registered. Please note: this data includes only new car registrations and not commercial vehicles. For questions about these figures, or…

As predicted, the UK new car market fell in March, down -15.7%, but still the fourth biggest March ever for the sector.
Fall in diesel demand continues, down -37.2% compared to same month last year, with AFVs up 5.7% and petrol holding steady at 0.5%.
Overall, first quarter down -12.4%, but over 700,000 motorists drive home in a new car this year.

Mike Hawes SMMT chief executive said:  This announcement is great news for the UK automotive sector and, especially, the Luton plant. The UK continues to be a centre of excellence for vehicle production thanks to our engineering expertise, high levels…