The newly released data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) shows that output rose 3.1% last year to over 1.5 million units, equating to a vehicle rolling off a production line somewhere in the UK every 20 seconds.


John Leech, KPMG’s UK head of automotive, said: ‘The UK car industry is in confident mood, especially the car component suppliers and manufacturers, as its key export market, the EU, continues to recover. Most analysts are now forecasting EU car sales will grow in 2014, reversing six straight years of falls.’

‘We expect the UK market to rise by approximately 5 percent this year, though not as quickly as we witnessed in 2013. Our forecast is that UK production will continue to rise from the export demand from emerging markets this year, 2015 and 2016 before peaking in 2017 at 1.9 million vehicles.

Highlighting the economic impact of UK car industry, he added: ‘In the next 12 months, the UK car industry will see huge increases in job creation with a number of manufacturers launching new models, including Jaguar, BMW/Mini and Nissan. The manufacturers have already outlined plans to increase workforces substantially which is welcome news for the UK economy.’