Annual car production drops 30%

Car production slumped by more than 30% last year despite excellent results for December, it has been announced.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures showed that the number of new cars produced in 2009 was 30.9% down on the figure for 2008.

Commentators attributed the slump, which also saw commercial vehicle (CV) production plummet, to the depressed motor market in early 2009.

A total of 999,460 cars rolled off UK production lines last year.

However, things were even bleaker for CV production which dropped 55.3% on 2008 with just 90,679 vehicles manufactured.

The bad news came despite excellent results for December 2009 showing a 58.5% rise on the figures for the same period in 2008.

The car scrappage scheme - which gave buyers £2,000 off a new car if they traded in their old one - was said to be behind December's rise in production.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: "The significant rise in December vehicle production signals some greater stability across global automotive markets.

"We expect the year ahead to be extremely challenging, but the return of economic growth will help UK producers."

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