UK car production on the up

According to the SMMT, UK vehicle production was up 2.1% at the end of September on a year-to-date basis, at 1.29 million.

This means full year production is likely to be not far off the highs achieved in the early Seventies and then again in the first few years of this decade. Thats a remarkable achievement considering that the last few years have seen the closure of Peugeot's plant at Ryton, Vauxhall's Luton works, and the final car assembly end of Ford's Dagenham operation - not to mention the demise of MG Rover.

It is a little remarked upon fact that Britain has lost almost an entire car industry in the last twenty or so years but gained almost an entire new one as well. The old 'Big Four' volume manufacturers - Leyland, Ford, Chrysler/Rootes and Vauxhall, have with the exception of Vauxhall largely disappeared in terms of UK production. What we have in their place are new Japanese plants run by Honda, Toyota and Nissan, as well as revived, previously niche-bound but now massively expanded prestige operations such as Bentley, Aston, Rolls, Land Rover and MINI - only Jaguar isn't really living up to its potential, and even that may change once the new XF hits the market.

One by-product of this shift is that not only is the industry almost as big as it's ever been, but the average value of the cars being made is probably a lot higher. Notwithstanding the possible rationalisation of Land Rover's and Jaguar's production facilities after Ford has sold these off, I think we will now hold on to most of what is left of the British industry.

Blast from the past 9 - Nissan 240Z

Or, as it was known in the UK, the Datsun 240Z. This was the first of the 'Z' line of coupes and perhaps also the first car from Japan to sell on desirability and performance rather than value for money and dependability. It's quite hard to believe that those sleek clean lines date all the way back to 1968. I snapped this well-kept example on Nissan's stand at this year's rain-soaked Goodwood Festival of Speed - which accounts for the large number of people with umbrellas in the background!


Later generations of Z were flabbier but remained popular (although to a far greater extent in the US than in Europe) because they continued for years to benefit from the rosy glow generated by the great original.

With the latest 350Z (there's a silver one in the background of the 240Z photo), though, Nissan is right back at the top of its game. We've already had the 350Z on the Verdict - where it proved immensely popular with our reader-testers - but I'm just wondering whether the extensive revisions this car has received lately provide enough of an excuse for us to get away with featuring the magnificent 350Z a second time...

What's outside today 7 - Nissan Qashqai

An unusual one this - not quite sure what to make of it.


Nissan has been dropping cars that fit traditional market categories such as the Golf-class Almera and the Mondeo-sized Primera and is instead following what could be described as an all-niche or multi-niche strategy. Just hope the niches are large enough to support this approach, given that the UK Nissan plant at Washington is relying on the Qashqai for much of its future output. The Qashqai was also designed in the UK, by the way.


The Qashqai is a sort of SUV/MPV cross, and its styling, especially at the rear, has overtones of the larger Murano. Brief impressions from the shortest of drives - strong, quiet diesel engine, very impressive interior, apart from the leather seats on our particular test example, which are the same 'bright brown' shade I was grumbling about in connection with the Volvo S80 the other day. Spacious too.

The changing face of Britain 1 - RFAs Lyme Bay and Largs Bay approaching completion at Swan Hunter, Wallsend, in 2005

Sustained economic growth and industrial change are altering the face of Britain at an astonishing pace - and I see the evidence everywhere as I travel around the country for the Verdict test.

First, something we will probably never see again - ship-building on the Tyne. This photo was taken on a Verdict trip to Newcastle (I think in late 2005 for the test of the Nissan Micra SR), during which I made a special point of heading out to Wallsend to see the mighty new Navy landing ships RFA Largs Bay and RFA Lyme Bay (nicknamed lager and lime for obvious reasons), then approaching completion at Swan Hunter. These are two of a class of four - the other two were built by BAE Systems.


Largs Bay and Lyme Bay were the last ships to be built at Swans, the product of a valiant effort by the Dutch entrepreneur Jaap Kroese to revive ship-building on the Tyne after Swan Hunter went down once before in the Nineties. This time it looks as though the yard, and the proud Swans tradition, at least in ships, have been lost for ever. Blame it on cost over-runs on these two ships and the failure to win work on the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers.

Great spots 3 - Toyota Cresta SuperLucent

A big powerful rear-wheel drive car loaded up with all the toys at a bargain price - that's the great mix of qualities Independent reader and Verdict test participant Guy Consitt found when he bought this Toyota Cresta SuperLucent online via a Japanese auction and imported it to the UK.



Large numbers of new and used Japanese cars make their way to the UK outside the manufacturers' official import channels. The most popular are Japanese market versions of cars sold in the UK such as the Mazda MX-5 and its Eunos sister, or those that have developed a strong cult following like the Nissan Figaro. But according to Guy, the real bargains are to be found among the less obvious models like the Cresta SuperLucent. Japanese market cars are RHD of course, and an added bonus is that if you buy a SuperLucent, you're unlikely to see another one in your local Tesco car park.