Car sales in the UK are booming at the moment and it's just dealerships that have seen a growth in business. Car manufacturing in the UK has also seen growth in what has been the best first quarter since 2004.
Figures from the SMMT stated there was a 9.8% increase of cars being produced on home-soil,159,074 models rolled off the production line in March. That means on average a car was being built in the UK every 16 seconds. Over the quarter a total of 443,581 cars were made which marks a 10.3% increase, making it the best period since 2004.
2015 was a great year for the motor trade and it looks like 2016 will follow suit as the first quarter of the year saw best sales figures since since the bi-annual registration was introduced in 1999. The majority of the cars made in the UK are exported and in March alone there was an increase of 14.3% as Blighty produced 118,332 cars to be sold overseas.
Interestingly there was a slight fall for production demands for cars to be sold within the UK, 40,742 were made March 2016, compared to 41,339 in March 2015. This marks a decrease of 1.4% but it's not all bad as over the whole quarter there was a rise of 8% for homegrown cars.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “UK car plants were at their busiest for 12 years in March,2 with a vehicle rolling off production lines every 16 seconds thanks to heightened international demand for British-built cars. Much will depend on economic and political conditions in key markets but, with several brand new global models starting production here in the first quarter alone, the prospects for future growth look bright.”