Car output in Britain decreases in 2017

LONDON, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese demand for British-built cars rose by almost a fifth in 2017, according to the latest figures published Wednesday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The SMMT said that a total of 1.67 million vehicles rolled off British production lines in 2017, a 3-percent decrease compared with 2016 but still the second highest output since the turn of the century.

Export demand from 160 markets worldwide now accounts for 79.9 percent of all car output in Britain, the highest in five years.

China is Britain's third largest buyer of cars in the past year after the European Union and the United States, accounting for 7.5 percent of its exports. The Asian country's demand for British cars has grown substantially as the sector adjusts to regulatory changes governing new car imports.

Some 100,376 Chinese car buyers chose British-built brands in 2017, all of them from premium manufacturers, for which Britain is renowned, according to the SMMT.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said China is a key market for British automobiles as well as a crucial trading partner in terms of materials and components.

"With both sectors already investing significantly in each other's countries, a strengthened UK-China trading relationship would deliver even greater dividends to our industries and economies," he added.

The SMMT said billions of pounds of investment helped drive Britain's production of auto engines to record levels in recent years, with demand growing at home and abroad.

The overall output of British-made engines rose 6.9 percent year-on-year in 2017 to more than 2.7 million units, with 54.7 percent delivered to car and van plants around the world.

According to the SMMT data, Britain exports an average of roughly 1.5 billion pounds worth of vehicle components to Asia while importing more than double that from the region. Enditem