Manufacturing
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Commercial vehicle production in the UK has changed markedly in the past decade, but ft also varies from quarter to quarter and month to month, as figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show. CV production output has held up surprisingly well, despite the ERF and Seddon Atkinson production lines moving to Germany and Spain respectively. But the main supporting factor is the strength of the Continental market, with demand for UK exports continuing to rise. Latest figures from the SMMT show that year-to-date commercial vehicle production in the UK rose 12.5% last August compared with the same period in 2003. The SMMT says CV output for the export market in the three months to August rose 30.8% on the same period a year earlier, while production for the UK market fell 21.3% year-on-year.
SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan says: 'August has again seen a steady rise in CV production. CV plants throughout the UK are benef iting from the EUwide recovery in demand for trucks and vans its likely to reach even higher levels by the end of the year."