CV production suffers November decline
UK commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturing decreased 1.9% in November, with 8,605 units rolling off production lines.
According to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), output for the domestic market rose 10.1%, with logistics and CV operators working flat out to meet growing demand for online deliveries, but that failed to offset an -8.8% decline in exports.
Output for the first 11 months is now down 16.1% to 59,539 units, with UK factories producing 11,419 fewer buses, coaches, vans, trucks and taxis than in the same month last year.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “While growing consumer demand for online deliveries has driven a need for new vehicles in the UK, ecommerce alone is not enough to make up the industry’s exports shortfall, even in the run-up to the year’s busiest retail period. A resurgence in coronavirus cases and the increasing fear of a ‘no deal’ Brexit as negotiating time runs out are already taking their toll, and we now, urgently, need an agreement with the EU that guarantees ongoing zero-tariff trade in order to allow the sector to recover and get back to long term growth.”
