Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

(asked on 25th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the automotive sector; and what steps his Department is taking to (a) aid recovery, (b) protect and create jobs in and (c) boost the competitiveness of the UK’s car manufacturers.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 13th April 2021

We have provided comprehensive support during the pandemic, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the trade credit insurance guarantee, and tax deferrals. In total, we have provided £2.4 billion in COVID Corporate Financing Facility support to the automotive sector.

The Government has invested around £1.5 billon to support the research, development, and manufacture of zero and low-emission vehicles to date. This investment has created thousands of jobs in the sector and its supply chain, saved millions of tonnes of CO2, and has helped the UK to lead the charge towards a low carbon automotive future.

In late 2020, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced in his 10 Point Plan nearly £500 million of funding for the Automotive Transformation Fund over the next four years to develop and embed the next generation of cutting-edge automotive technologies in the UK. This is part of a £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. In addition, we are investing in schemes to support the delivery of chargepoint infrastructure to homes, workplaces, on residential streets, and across the wider roads network.

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