VW is struggling to meet demand in the UK, especially for the Up city car. According to industry website, www.just-auto.com, most buyers are having to wait two months for an Up, and there are also said to be shortages of the Golf GTI and the Passat. The problem, of course, is that cars have to be specially made for the UK and Ireland, as Europe’s only major right-hand-drive markets. VW cannot simply divert cars no longer wanted by crisis-hit markets in southern Europe.

Therefore it will be September before right-hand-drive production can be increased, as special parts are required. Nevertheless, the idea of having to increase production for any market is a distant dream for most European mainstream manufacturers right now. One can safely assume that companies like Renault and Fiat are not having crisis meetings about shortages of cars to meet demand in the UK.

The only other manufacturer we know about that is struggling to meet demand is Land Rover, thanks to apparently insatiable demand for the Evoque. Talking of which, Land Rover has just celebrated 12 months since Evoque production started. Since it went on public sale, nine months ago, it has sold 80,000 units. It is now Land Rover’s most popular product and, although they won’t say so publicly, probably its most profitable.