Weak demand hampers 2013 CV manufacturing, says SMMT

Weak demand in Europe produced a difficult environment for CV manufacturers, and the SMMT expects output to stay subdued into 2014.

‘Production of commercial vehicles struggled in 2013, due to restructuring of manufacturing operations and difficult economic conditions across Europe,’ said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive. ‘With early signs of recovery on the continent and better performance in the truck and bus sectors, there are reasons to be positive, but we expect overall volumes to remain subdued for some months yet.’