Car production up 16 per cent in first quarter

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 24 Apr 2002 10:58

Car production in Britain rose 16 per cent in the first quarter of this year as rising output by manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota compensated for plant closures elsewhere.

Figures published on Tuesday showed production grew to 449,567 vehicles in the first three months of the year, despite the end of car assembly by Ford at Dagenham in east London and Vauxhall's Luton plant in Bedfordshire.

The impact of those closures was offset by additional assembly by Japanese carmakers, Honda in particular, which is raising UK production to 139,000 vehicles this year - up from about 80,000 in 2001.

Honda, which has spent £450m ($653m) expanding its Swindon plant, this week began exporting CRV sports utility models from the UK to North America. It expects to export up to 60,000 CRVs to the US this year.

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