UK car production rose by 2% year-on-year in January to 145,658 units - 50,572 for the home market (up 5.2%) and 95,086 for export, the latter a 0.3% rise.

But the picture remained bleak for commercial vehicles: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figure show a production fall of 21.7% to 14,464 units with a 43.2% drop in demand from the home market.