U.K., Industry Set Investment Roadmap

More than £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in new investment is to be allocated over the next 10 years to secure the growth and development of the U.K. vehicle and component manufacturing sector.

A new joint industry-government automotive strategy involving the investment is intended to support multi-billion-dollar spending announced in the last few years by auto makers to boost production levels and develop new technologies and models.

The U.K. auto industry now generates £59 billion ($89.1 billion) in revenue and supports more than 700,000 jobs. It accounts for 10% of the region’s exports and spends £1.7 billion ($2.5 billion) a year on research and development.

Industry and government will fund and support investments in projects including an Advanced Propulsion Center to boost U.K. expertise in R&D; the creation of 7,600 apprenticeships and 1,700 graduate opportunities; and the establishment of an Automotive Investment Organization to attract U.K. spending by global automotive component companies.

In announcing the policy, Business Secretary Vince Cable says a skilled workforce is what keeps the U.K.’s automotive sector competitive.

“The new automotive industrial strategy sets out how we will address skills gaps in the industry and we are producing a ‘skills roadmap,” he says. “We are committed to improving current and future training programs across all levels of the sector.”

Developed under Automotive Council guidance, the strategy also sees financing for tooling investments in the supply chain and a renewed commitment to encourage the U.K. as a lead market in the production and sale of low-emissions vehicles.

The program will promote supply-chain growth and competitiveness, including creating a framework with suppliers, auto makers and banks to solve the problem of financing new tooling investment.

It will provide financial support to encourage consumers to buy lower-emissions vehicles, and to grow investment in the manufacture of low- and ultra-low-emissions vehicles and components.

The business environment also gets the beauty treatment with a plan to establish better cross-government relationships by including the Treasury Department on the Automotive Council to ensure the U.K. remains an attractive place to invest.

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders interim CEO Mike Baunton says the motor industry is a major contributor to the region’s economy and has been increasing that stake in a challenging economic environment.

“In partnership with government, we have now developed a roadmap to secure further long-term growth that is detailed in the strategy document launched today,” Baunton says in a statement.

John Martin, Nissan’s senior vice president-manufacturing, purchasing and supply-chain management in Europe, says as the largest auto maker in the history of the U.K. motor industry Nissan is fully committed to supporting the strategy.

Over the next two years the auto maker will spend a previously announced £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in the U.K. to support its new model range including the Qashqai, Juke, Note and Leaf.

“Our workforce recently went over 6,000 for the very first time to support a planned increase in production to beyond 550,000 cars per year in the near future,” Martin says in a statement.

More than one in three cars built in the U.K. is a Nissan, and the auto maker has set production records in each of the past three years, with 2012 output totaling 510,572 vehicles.