Perfect Day for car buyers
- 00:01:33
- ITN
Perfect Day for car buyers
The number of new cars produced last month in the UK crashed 59 per cent, official figures have showed. With vehicle companies cutting back drastically on production, just 59,777 cars were made in February 2009, representing a huge drop on the February 2008 total, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Commercial vehicle (CV) production fell even more sharply, going down 71.6 per cent compared with February 2008. The SMMT said more than 300,000 units have been lost from total vehicle output in the past 14 months. SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt went on: "The large fall in February's vehicle production is a direct result of weak demand and the need to protect the highly-skilled workforce and valuable industrial capability in the UK automotive sector. "We have seen action to encourage longer-term investment, but still require Government support for short-time working, easier access to finance and credit and the implementation of a vehicle scrappage scheme." The depressing figures will come as little surprise, as there have been a series of announcements in recent weeks of production cuts, plant closures, job losses and reduced working weeks within the motor industry. The Honda motor company has halted all production at its plant at Swindon in Wiltshire until June, while Ford is on a four-day week and some other plants are on three-day weeks.
ITN | March 20, 2009
