London, Jan 26 (IANS): The number of cars made in the UK reached a 17-year high in 2016, the media reported.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on Wednesday said that exports rose 10.3 per cent to 1.35 million vehicles, a record for the second consecutive year, BBC reported.

About 1.7 million cars rolled off production lines in 2016, a rise of 8.5 per cent from 2015.

UK's car exports to European Union countries increased by 7.5 per cent to 758,680 last year, accounting for half of all exports.

Increases were also seen in Turkey, Japan and Canada.

The UK has 15 car plants, directly employing 169,000 workers and 814,000 across the sector, BBC reported.

Jaguar Land Rover increased production by 11 per cent last year to 544,000, Nissan's rose by 6.5 per cent to 507,000, the Mini Cooper by 4.9 per cent to 210,000, and Honda by 12 per cent to 134,000.

The top 10 British best-sellers worldwide last year were the Nissan Qashqai, Toyota Auris, Mini, Vauxhall Astra, Range Rover Sport and Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Honda Civic, Jaguar F-Pace and Jaguar XE.