Yes there are quite a few people doing PhDs' these days who don't intend to go into academia or go into research positions. I started out doing my PhD because i wanted to do some really dedicated research but now that i am almost finished i want to move out into industry. Just a word of warning though, a PhD can be equally good and bad when it comes to looking for industry jobs. A number of people i know who got their PhDs in the last couple of years had quite a bit of trouble getting work afterwards. Its ok with the big companies like Rolls-Royce and Airbus, they understand the PhD qualification and often recruit PhDs straight into their engineering departments depending on expertise. But for smaller companies you can find that the PhD can scare them off! I've heard from a number of people that they got turned down for interview because they were deemed to be "overqualified" for a graduate position. Either that or the employers believe that you will demand a higher salary for doing the same job as someone with a BEng/MEng. It comes as quite a shock to some that they are only offered the same basic starting salary as a standard graduate but thats the way it goes. I'm not trying to put anyone off but just be aware that if you go down the PhD route you may have to battle quite hard to get across to potential employers what you have to offer and that you are not some mad-boffin type.
One piece of advice i would give if you want to do a PhD and then go into industry is to be very careful about the subject of your research. Try to get something which involves working very closely with an industrial partner, preferably something partly funded by industry, so that you can cite on your CV that you have experience working directly with industry. You would be surprised the difference that can make on getting called for job interviews etc.