§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evidence underlay the statement in his Department's recent memorandum to the Trade and Industry Committee on the competitive environment for vehicle manufacturing in the UK. [130046]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe recent problems at BMW and Ford are not indicative of the general state of the UK vehicle manufacturing industry. The evidence points to a robust UK vehicle manufacturing industry: in 1999 car exports at 1.1 million were the highest ever; UK sales were the 4th highest on record and UK car production at its highest level since 19721.
Significant new investment continues, with c£2.0 billion worth of capital expenditure and c8,000 new jobs announced since 1997. This year alone (2000) GM/ Vauxhall has announced a £189 million investment plan for its three UK plants and Honda £130 million for the modernisation of its manufacturing line at Swindon.
We consider that this demonstrates that a positive environment exists in the UK in which to do business.
1Source:SMMT