The UK car industry had spluttered but is now in pole position – Telegraph.co.uk

The work done by industry and Government through the Council has resulted in a
clear long-term strategy for the sector – one that is delivering results.

Thanks to this partnership, the Council has drawn up an industry-led
technology roadmap to identify the auto sector’s future needs, which
includes the move towards lower carbon vehicle and fuel technologies. It is
supporting work to develop powertrain systems, building on UK strengths in
areas such as energy storage, power electronics and internal combustion
engine technology.

We are also working through the Automotive Council to boost skills and attract
more talented engineers and technicians into the sector. The See Inside
Manufacturing campaign, which allows young people to visit state-of-the-art
facilities to see the reality of modern industry, was piloted by major
carmakers and is now being rolled out to other sectors.

An industry that two decades ago appeared to be in irreversible decline and
hamstrung by industrial strife is today transformed, and the partnership
spearheaded by the Automotive Council is building on this success to create
a growing, internationally competitive industry as a key part of the UK
economy.

Britain’s automotive industry offers a model we want to replicate in other
industries and sectors – one underpinned by a coherent, considered
industrial policy that works with the grain of markets. That means
developing a strategic vision for where our future industrial capabilities
should lie, and how to deliver it, to ensure UK manufacturers are in the
best possible shape to compete for global business.

Modern manufacturing – whether that’s auto; aerospace; renewables; or
composites – makes a disproportionately large contribution to productivity
growth in the UK. It generates half our exports; and it is responsible for
much of the business R&D in this country. So providing the right
framework of incentives and support will have a material effect on future
rates of economic growth.

This is the reason we are making such efforts to reinvigorate supply chains in
automotive and other manufacturing sectors, in order to rebuild the
capabilities that have been allowed to wither away in recent years.

GM’s ambition to boost the proportion of components it sources in the UK from
10pc to 25pc, as part of its Ellesmere Port investment, is one we want to
see happening across British industry.

So do our major manufacturers, who have already repatriated hundreds of
millions of pounds worth of business to the UK. But there is scope to win
back much more, so the Government is supporting efforts through its £125m
Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative, which will back projects
that bolster capacity and capability in supply chains in advanced
manufacturing disciplines. Interest is high and a number of applications
have already been received ahead of the June 13 deadline.

There is a real opportunity for more UK suppliers to become global players,
and to persuade new suppliers to base themselves here – ensuring the UK
secures the full benefits of the huge new automotive investments already in
the pipeline.

We will work together through the Automotive Council to grasp these
opportunities, and support our world-class car-makers as they lead the way
in building vehicles the world wants to buy.

Mark Prisk is Minister of State for Business and Enterprise. Richard
Parry-Jones is Co-Chair of the Automotive Council