Commercial vehicle manufacturing output fell by 14.6% in January compared to January 2013, continuing a decline that has seen output drop by 32% since January 2012.
The decline shows no sign of slowing, and perhaps worryingly, demand fell faster at home (down 17.9%) than it did in our primarily European export markets (down 10.8%):
| CV manufacturing | Jan-13 | Jan-14 | % Change | YTD-13 | YTD-14 | % Change |
| Total | 7,822 | 6,681 | -14.6% | 7,822 | 6,681 | -14.6% |
| Home | 4,196 | 3,445 | -17.9% | 4,196 | 3,445 | -17.9% |
| Export | 3,626 | 3,236 | -10.8% | 3,626 | 3,236 | -10.8% |
| % export | 46.4% | 48.4% | 46.4% | 48.4% |
Data courtesy of SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk)
Graph courtesy of SMMT.
Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive, believes the change is due to various companies’ restructuring their manufacturing activities in 2013, and to the introduction of Euro 6 emissions legislation for lorries:
“New Euro-6 engine emission legislation came into effect from January this year, a change which invariably results in a lull in UK heavy commercial vehicle manufacturing and a contributor to January’s 14.6% fall in output,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive.
While van production was strong in the month, the 2014 market will, for some months, continue to be affected by the Europe-wide restructuring that occurred last year.”
It’s true that there was a dip in truck registrations in January, following the surge seen during the second half of last year, but it also seems clear to me that the UK’s CV manufacturing industry is now unlikely ever to recover the capacity lost by the closure of Ford’s Southampton plant and as a result of the other restructuring that took place in 2013.