The H1 rise comes on the back of a 3.7% increase in June output to 136,419 cars, driven by 16.5% growth in production for UK market.

The SMMT said that the UK industry is benefiting from a raft of new model introductions, with more anticipated in coming months.

‘UK car production continued its steady growth in June, leading to a first half-year increase of 3.5%,’ said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive. ‘With several manufacturers having started assembly of new models this year and billions of pounds of investment still to reach production fruition, this is an exciting time for the UK automotive sector. However, with this growth comes a need to bolster the domestic supply chain and address major skills shortages; both of which the UK industry is committed to addressing.’