John Leech, head of KPMG’s automotive practice comments on the monthly Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI). The data shows that UK manufacturing PMI rose to 52.1 in January and eurozone's manufacturing sector contracted for the sixth month in a row in January:
“The latest PMI reveals that the continuing eurozone crisis is draining confidence and demand out of Europe. While the UK fared better than most of its European counterparts with a positive PMI score of 52.1 – an eight-month high in January – our manufacturers are still battling with a fluctuating UK economy and most are feeling the impact of a weakening exports market to the eurozone, so the short-term outlook remains challenging for UK manufacturers.
“However there is hope in the second half of year as inflation is expected to come back down towards target and the weakening of the sterling and euro currencies will make our exports to emerging markets more competitive. One successful business strategy for companies in these volatile times is to find new customers in emerging markets and design products for them – a company to successfully achieve this is Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).”
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KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and operates from 22 offices across the UK with nearly 11,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.6 billion in the year ended September 2010. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 150 countries and have more than 138,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. KPMG International provides no client services.
