John Leech, KPMG’s UK Head of Auto comments on the latest SMMT production figures released today: "Given that vehicle demand in the Eurozone countries has fallen by about 10 percent in recent months the dip of 0.7 percent in UK production last month comes as a relief and underlines the resilience of UK vehicle producers.
“This resilience is borne from the fact our car manufacturers such as JLR are increasingly exporting to emerging markets and are selling models in high-growth niche segments of the market such as Nissan's Qashqai and Juke.
“The medium term outlook remains bright for UK car production with JLR, Nissan and BMW all expecting to increase UK production in the next few years notwithstanding the expected continued weakness in the Eurozone.
“However, the picture is different for commercial vehicles where production fell 17.1pc in February. The weakness in the Eurozone is having a big impact and with the end of Ford Transit production at Southampton scheduled for July 2013 commercial vehicle production figures are likely to remain subdued for a while.”
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