F&I Management & Training

The number of new cars produced in the UK declined a record 59% annually in February as the motor industry continues to suffer. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said car production totalled just 59,777 last month. Car firms in the UK and elsewhere have cut both jobs and production as the recession has hit car sales. The carmakers have been lobbying the government for help for their finance arms that provide loans to buy cars. "The large fall in February's vehicle production is a direct result of weak demand," said SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt. It was the largest drop in a single month, according to SMMT records dating back to 1970, and the fifth straight month of decline. Government aid Business Secretary Lord Mandelson told the BBC he had been "encouraging" car manufacturers to apply for European loans. "We're going to make sure that where there are firms that are viable going concerns - and in the vast majority of cases they are - that they do have a future," he said. Lord Mandelson did not address whether the government would introduce a scrapping scheme, which involves paying drivers of high polluting older cars to switch to new models. He had said earlier this they were "looking at" the possibility of such a scheme, but no decision had been made yet on this idea.

DATED: 21.03.09

FEED: AW