Nissan Micra production in Sunderland increases by 40%

Oct 28 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

But he warned the company would remain cautious because the incentive was due to end soon.

“We will continue to monitor the market and adjust our production plan accordingly,” he said.

Motor industry expert Prof Mike Sweeney said scrappage may distort the UK figures but it was also important to consider overseas sales.

Prof Sweeney, Emeritus Professor of operations management at Cranfield University School of Management, said: “With the surge in demand for the Micra, you’ve got to look at what proportion is national and what is international. Other economies are in a better place than ours. We’d expect to see sales continue to other economies.

“In terms of the Micra, I’d expect to see a fall off when the scrappage scheme ends in the UK, but not necessarily internationally.”

He pointed out that buyers lured by scrappage were not the normal customers targeted by motor manufacturers.

“The task of the motor industry is to persuade people to buy a new car every few years with different styling,” said Prof Sweeney. “The scrappage scheme is for cars over 10 years old – that’s a distinctively different element of demand in the market place. It’s not normal practice for people to hold on to their cars for 10 years.”

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed that UK new car production in September fell to its slowest rate of decline since the start of the credit crunch.