CAR production in Europe plunged to its lowest level in 14 years during 2009 - and UK factories were amongst the hardest hit in the EU, according to new figures released on behalf of major car makers across the continent.
Total production of cars, trucks and buses in Europe dropped by 17.3 per cent compared with 2008 and by 23 per cent compared with the pre-crisis level of 2007.
Truck production dropped by 64 per cent to a historic low, but, although the number of cars produced dropped by 13 per cent to 13.4 million units, actual car sales fell by only 1.3 per cent with demand supported by renewal and scrappage schemes in 13 EU countries.
The data has been released by ACEA, the European automobile industry’s trade association, which publishes its Economic Report three times a year, giving additional insight into market trends and automotive production.
According to ACEA, the decrease is the steepest recorded since 1993, when car production in the EU fell by 15.1 per cent.
But it could have been much worse. Thanks to incentives for buyers rolled out across the EU, production of passenger cars went up 22.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2009 compared with the low level recorded in the same period in 2008.
British auto makers were amongst the hardest hit by the continuing recession. The UK recorded a massive 33.9 per cent cut in overall vehicle production compared with 20.2 per cent in France, 14.6 per cent in Spain and 13.8 per cent in Germany, which remains Europe’s largest vehicle producing nation.
France slipped to third place behind Spain with the UK ranked fourth. Significantly, the Czech Republic and Slovenia were the only countries to see their total production increase, by 3 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.
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