UK commercial vehicle production surges ahead

The UK automotive industry received a significant boost today with new figures from the SMMT showing that UK commercial vehicle production rose by 36.8% in April 2015 compared with the same month in 2014. 8,628 vans, trucks and buses were built during the month increasing the number of CVs produced to 32,064. Growing demand has seen the market rise with the total number of commercial vehicles produced this year climbing 23.6% compared to this time last year.

The growth in production is to meet the demand for both the UK domestic market and export. Today’s figures show a climb of 50.1% in CVs manufactured for the European Market, as part of the overall sales growth with a rise of 13% for total European vehicle registrations. The APC welcomed today’s news as it continues to receive applications for the current funding competition Up to £60 million is currently available to support low carbon advanced propulsion projects worth more than £120 million through the current funding competition which opened on 5 May and runs until the end of June.

The competition is called ‘APC4 Driving UK Capability and Economic Impact through Low Carbon Propulsion Technologies’ for projects which are collaborative and business-led and include a vehicle manufacturer or a tier 1 supplier and an SME partner. They must also develop the UK’s supply chain in the field of low carbon vehicle propulsion technology. The competition will fund the development of on-vehicle technologies for either on-road or off-highway vehicles.

Consortia must have a clear, demonstrable route to production, and line of sight to market, involving at least one vehicle manufacturer and/or a tier 1 supplier and at least one SME partner.