The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the steady fall in car production since October 2006 finally came to a halt in March 2007.

UK motor vehicle production in the three months to March was unchanged from the previous three months.

Vehicle production for the home market fell 0.8 pct, while output allocated for the export market grew 0.3 pct.

Compared with same period in 2006, production fell 6.9 pct in the three months to March 2007. Production for the domestic sector was 8.8 pct lower while production for exports fell by 6.3 pct.

Commercial vehicle production in the three months to March fell 3.8 pct from the previous three months, but were 0.7 pct higher year-on-year.

On average, approximately 126,000 cars a month were produced in the three months to March. Around 93,000 cars were for the export market and around 32,000 were for the home market.