Britain car production increases by 1.2 pct, hitting seven-year high

Britain manufactured 1,528,148 cars in 2014, 1.2 percent higher than in 2013, recording the best year since 2007, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Friday.

Last December was the strongest in a decade in terms of car production with 108,721 cars produced, up by 27.1 percent over December 2013, data showed. And the production speed last year as a whole is equivalent to one car produced in every 20 seconds.

Production growth comes despite challenges in some export market, and the output matched the increase in overall British car registration in 2014, which rose by 8.0 percent, said the industry association.

Earlier this month, SMMT said in a report that 2,476,435 new cars were registered in Britain in 2014, the most in a calendar year since 2004.

Mike Hawes, Chief Executive at SMMT, said: "The industry has overcome various challenges, including slower than expected EU recovery and weakness in some global markets."

He said British car manufacturing is now "more diverse than ever, with a unique combination of volume, premium and specialist brands giving our products truly global appeal."

He also noted that more than seven billion pounds (10.5 billion U.S. dollars) of investment into British production facilities has been announced in the past two years, and now the industry is now seeing the effects as new models begin production. (1 pound = 1.50 U.S. dollars) Endit