The closure early this year of PSA Peugeot Citroen’s 206 assembly plant at Ryton near Coventry helped account for UK car output down 9,000 units last month, a trade group said.
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“Overall, UK car production figures continue to reflect the loss of Peugeot, with over 9,000 units missing compared to May last year, said Christopher Macgowan, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive. “However, this month was just 3,833 down and so we remain optimistic that production in 2007 will hit, at the very least, the same volume as last year.”
May production of 128,483 cars was off 2.9% year on year. Of those, 103,045 were exported, down 2.3%. Year to date production of 626,777 units was off 5.1% with exports down 4.9% to 477,593.
May commercial vehicle production, however, was up 12.3% to 16,955 units with exports of 10,540 up 2.3%. Year to date volume rose 2% to 90,853 though exports dropped 7.7% to 55,206.
“The sheer diversity of the British automotive sector helps keep it on an even keel,” said Macgowan. “Trucks and vans – diverse products themselves – continue to add value to ‘UK plc’, with 60.8% of production so far this year heading for export markets.”
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