UK car production jumps to offer boost to recession-hit economy

UK car production increased by 5.8 per cent in 2011, according to industry figures released today (January 19).

A total of 1.3 million cars were made, with production including commercial vehicles, totalling 1.47m.

The figures also show that engine production in the UK rose by 4.9 per cent, to a total of 2,504,054.

Nissan, in Sunderland, remains the biggest UK-based manufacturer – in 2011, the Japanese-owned company produced 480,485 cars, an increase of 13 per cent on 2010.

The fact that the car industry is recovering, despite a lack of demand from recession-hit UK markets, offers a boost to the UK economy. The motor industry accounts for ten per cent of all export revenue. The proportion of cars sold abroad in 2011 (83.7 per cent) was the highest ever. Sales of UK-built cars within the UK declined by 4.4 per cent.

Business Secretary Mark Prisk welcomed the news. “The global vehicle market grew by around four per cent in 2011. At the same time, UK vehicle production grew by nearly six per cent, demonstrating how the UK has out-performed the market this year," he said. "We have some of the best plants in the UK that are amongst the most productive in Europe. The automotive sector demonstrates that the UK can successfully compete for business across the world."

The increase in the UK's overall figures is partly thanks to the fact that 2010 was an especially bad year. The British car industry remains a shadow of its heyday - even in 2011, production was 20 per cent lower than in 1960 and even further down on the all-time record year for production, 1972, when 2.33m vehicles were manufactured in the UK.

All the UK's largest manufacturing operations are now foreign-owned, including the BMW-owned Mini and the Indian-owned Land Rover as well as Bentley, owned by Volkswagen. Honda and Toyota also have major operations, in Swindon and Derby respectively.

Photograph (Getty Images) shows Prime Minister David Cameron at a press launch in June 2011, where Nissan confirmed plans to design, engineer and build the new version of their Qashqai. Over one million Qashqais had already been produced in Sunderland.