Manufacturing and Supply

UK commercial vehicle manufacturing up 33.7% in February to 8,344 units.
Production increases 6.5% in first two months of 2015, with 13,787 CVs manufactured.
Demand from domestic market drives sector performance, buoyed by strong exports.

More than 250,000 UK cars built in first two months of 2015, nearly 130,000 in February.
Number of cars produced for the domestic market up 21.1% to 33,813 units.
Market positive with UK manufacturers poised to see return on billions of pounds worth of investment.

UK automotive industry trade body The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is set to bring together automotive industry experts and government ministers for the first time to debate the future of the connected car.

British cars are being made with more British-sourced parts as the UK automotive industry’s renaissance continues apace, new research reveals. Figures from a new Automotive Council report show that domestic component makers sold 19% more products to UK vehicle producers last year than in 2013.

UK commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturing output up 12.6% in December, the first month of growth since July 2013.
Output fell 19.7% in 2014, but month of growth heralds bright future.
Growing demand at home helped to drive December growth, despite deflated export markets.

SMMT holds reception with senior politicians

This week Vauxhall is celebrating the five millionth car to roll off the production line at its Ellesmere Port factory.

Last week marked the two millionth Nissan Qashqai produced at the manufacturer’s Sunderland plant. The scope and scale of Qashqai’s success is difficult to appreciate, so here are three facts that might help.

£1bn Advanced Propulsion Centre opens for business at the University of Warwick.
Two new projects awarded £32m to research manufacturing technology for electric motors and develop cleaner internal combustion engines, safeguarding 2,500 jobs.

On Monday 3 November, a number of Chinese delegates will visit SMMT to learn more about the UK automotive industry. With a highly skilled and flexible workforce, as well as a favourable business environment, the UK has a lot to offer global manufacturers, but why the focus on China?