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UK car production on the mend but not fully recovered
A total of 68,306 cars were built in the UK in April 2021, up 34,573 per cent from last year’s factory shutdowns, but still short of pre-Covid levels
26 May 2021
UK car production was in reasonable health last month, with 68,306 cars built here in April 2021. This is a 34,573.1 per cent increase on April 2020, when lockdown restrictions kept factories closed and just 197 cars were manufactured.
April’s production figures were 3.8 per cent down on the same month in 2019, though, while year-to-date production for 2021 of 374,864 cars shows a similar trend: up 17.3 per cent on the same period in 2020, but down 15 per cent on 2019.
Image: Jarek Kilian / Shutterstock
A new report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) suggests the average age of a vehicle driven across the UK has risen to 8.4 years old, the oldest on record.
The analysis stresses almost ten million vehicles from 2008 and earlier are still in use with a staggering 27.9% of the vehicles being more than 12 years old.
A new car from 2020 emits, on average 112.8grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, which is 18.3% lower than a model registered in 2011, the trade association claims.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “With the pandemic putting the brakes on new vehicle uptake in 2020, the average car on our roads is now the oldest since records began some 20 years ago, as drivers held on to their existing vehicles for longer.