In the first 11 months of the year 1.43 million cars rolled off the UK's assembly lines – a rise of 5.5 per cent year-on-year.

The number of cars made for export rose by 16 per cent to 118,671 last month to account for 81 per cent of the total.

Just under 28,000 models were produced for the home market – up 4.8 per cent on November 2006.

In the year-to-date more than 1.1 million UK-built cars headed for overseas markets – 77 per cent of the total.

Christopher Macgowan, SMMT chief executive said: “November has followed the 2007 trend of growth in production, which is testament to the investment manufacturers have made in the British motor industry.

“It is encouraging that volumes exported have remained stable.”