Car production revs back into gear, up 44%

CAR production accelerated ahead again last month, rising 44 per cent compared with April 2009, it emerged yesterday.

A total of 98,290 cars were made in the UK last month, with the increase emphasising just how deeply in recession the motor industry was in the opening months of last year.

Commercial vehicle production also rose sharply last month, up 40.8 per cent to 10,777, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

Car production for the year so far is 64.9 per cent up on the January-April 2009 total, while commercial vehicle production in the first four months of this year is 44.3 per cent up.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said the April figures reflected "a good start to the second quarter of 2010".

He said: "A number of UK product launches and the introduction of new technologies are helping to sustain demand, despite an expected slowdown following the end of the scrappage scheme."