Vince Cable
Main Page: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)Automotive Sector Strategy
Vince Cable Excerpts(10 years, 10 months ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)
The Government have today published “Driving success—a strategy for growth and sustainability in the UK automotive sector”, which has been produced in partnership with stakeholders from across the industry through the Automotive Council.
This strategy sets out a shared vision for a UK automotive manufacturing industry that is diverse, dynamic, growing and globally competitive, that makes a large and increasing economic contribution to employment and prosperity in the UK, that plays a decisive role in developing and manufacturing low and ultra-low emission vehicles and technologies, that is supported by a highly skilled work force and a strong supply chain and that inspires young people to pursue careers in engineering and manufacturing.
This strategy focuses on opportunities from the move to ultra-low emission vehicles to 2040 and beyond, strengthening the domestic supply chain to rise to the challenge from a growing sector and take a £3 billion opportunity that has been identified, ensuring that industry are able to find enough people with the right skills and ensuring that the UK business environment can compete internationally as a location for automotive investment.
Key actions include investing around £1 billion over 10 years in a new Advanced Propulsion Centre, improving access to finance through a new tooling finance framework and industry expecting to take on more than 7,600 apprentices and 1,700 graduates over the next five years.
In addition to wider Automotive Council support for the strategy, the Advanced Propulsion Centre has received specific letters of support from 27 companies: Bentley, BMW Group, Bosch, BP, Castrol Innoventures, Caterpillar, Ford, GKN, High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Intelligent Energy, Jaguar Land Rover, JCB, Lotus, Mahle, McLaren Automotive, Millbrook, MIRA, Morgan, Nissan, Optare, Productiv, RDM Group, Ricardo, SMMT, Tata Motors, Transport Systems Catapult, and West Midlands Manufacturing Consortium.
I will place a copy of the strategy in the Libraries of both Houses.