§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the relative effect of(a) the reduction in the tariff, (b) the removal of tariff protection against EEC countries and (c) the monetary and exchange rate policies of successive United Kingdom Governments on the increase in car imports since 1970; and if he will show the share of the United Kingdom market taken by the EEC, the other eight EEC countries and the rest of the world in 1968, 1972, 1979, 1990 and in the latest 12 months for which figures are available. [29948]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorMy Department does not make such estimates, which would be very imprecise because of the large number of other factors affecting car production and trade.
UK car production is at its highest for 20 years, with the number of cars exported running at over three times that of a decade ago, while the number imported has fallen by almost 20 per cent. in the last five years.
Figures of UK registration by country of final assembly are in the table; comparable data for 1968 are not available.
UK new car registrations by country of final assembly Per cent. 1972 1979 1990 1994 Belgium 0.0 6.3 5.5 7.9 Luxembourg 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 France 7.5 11.5 11.1 14.4 Germany 5.9 13.5 17.5 10.8 Italy 3.0 5.4 3.0 2.6 Netherlands 0.9 0.6 2.0 1.3 Ireland 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 Denmark 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Total above 17.3 38.1 39.1 36.9 Rest of world 6.2 18.2 17.7 20.1 Total imported 23.5 56.3 56.7 57.0 United Kingdom 76.5 43.7 43.3 43.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0