UK car manufacturing turned down in October. However, it is ahead in the first ten months and the SMMT data shows the cumulative total is 2.8% ahead of last year.
The SMMT said the small monthly decline reflected model changes.
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A total of 1,318,452 new cars rolled off UK production lines in the first 10 months of the year, the best performance since 2005 and up 2.8% year-to-date. Exports drove volumes in October, with foreign demand up 1.5%, while the domestic market fell marginally month-on-month.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: "Despite a small drop in overall output last month, the industry has delivered a robust performance so far this year, particularly in terms of exports. Given the slowdown we've seen in several key global markets in recent months, UK automotive manufacturing still remains in a strong position."
John Leech, head of automotive at KPMG UK, put the downturn in October down to new models and some weakness in key export markets. He said: "While today's car manufacturing figures show production hitting the highest year-to-date level in a decade, the overall output fell slightly in October compared to the same month last year. The reasons for this drop are twofold: the seasonal cooling down as a number of UK plants prepare for new models, such as the new Vauxhall Astra being launched at Ellesmere Port later this month; and weakness in demand in the Chinese and Russian markets.
"However, this is a blip, rather than a trend. Undoubtedly 2016 will see more cars made in the UK than in the previous decade, and I forecast that car production will continue to grow in future years, peaking at 2 million in 2020 to beat the all-time production record."
More than 1.5m cars were built in the UK in 2014. UK vehicle production is also heavily export-focused, with over 78% of production exported in 2014, a significant proportion of which went to Europe.
A recent report issued by the SMMT said that annual car production in the UK is forecast to hit a new record of two million units by 2020.
| Car manufacturing | Oct-14 | Oct-15 | % Change | YTD-14 | YTD-15 | % Change |
| Total | 150,060 | 148,976 | -0.7% | 1,282,080 | 1,318,452 | 2.8% |
| Home | 33,895 | 31,078 | -8.3% | 281,791 | 309,076 | 9.7% |
| Export | 116,165 | 117,898 | 1.5% | 1,000,289 | 1,009,376 | 0.9% |
| % export | 77.4% | 79.1% | 78.0% | 76.6% |
