British car production leapt by almost 41 percent in August compared with the same month last year, bringing output in the first eight months of the year to over 1 million for the first time since 2008, an industry body said on Thursday. Boosted by earlier-than-usual summer shutdowns which largely took place in July this year, total production in August rose to 99,910 cars, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
British car production fell by 11.2 percent in July as changes to holiday patterns resulted in some plants going quiet a month earlier than normal. "The quieter summer months are traditionally subject to fluctuation as production is paused for essential upgrades, and August's strong growth wasn't unexpected given the 22.1 percent fall in the same month last year when the 2014 holiday period fell," Mike Hawkes, SMMT's chief executive, said.
The SMMT said 1.01 million cars rolled off production lines over the first eight months of the year, driven by the rise in cars built for the domestic British market - a 1.6 percent increase on the same period the year before. In August, cars built for export, which account for around three in four of all British-made cars, rose 38.8 percent on the year to 73,219. Cars built for the domestic British market rose by 45.6 percent.