Government unveils £1bn investment in car of the future

10-year Government and industry initiative expected to secure at least 30,000 jobs

Business secretary Vince Cable announced £1bn motor industry initiative (Getty Images)

The government and the car industry will each invest £500m over the next ten years to create the “car of the future” and employ more than 30,000 people, Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced.

The £1 billion Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) will be tasked with researching, developing and ultimately commercialising low-carbon technologies to build futuristic vehicles.

The scheme, which will be funded by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills alongside 27 companies in the motor industry, is expected to secure 30,000 jobs currently linked to the production of engines, and more throughout the supply chain.

An additional 7,600 apprenticeships and 1,700 graduate-traineeships will be created by the Automotive Council, co-chaired by the Business Secretary and Professor Richard Parry-Jones.

Complementing the announcement, the Technology Strategy Board – the official body for encouraging innovation – launched a £10 million competition that will fast-train successful project through the newly created APC.  The Board’s Chief Executive, Iain Gray, heralded the move as an injection of “stability and momentum” into the transport industry.

Speaking at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex today, Mr Cable said: “The UK automotive sector has been incredibly successful in recent times, with billions of pounds of investment and new jobs. This has been achieved by government and industry working together.

“With the next generation of vehicles set to be powered by radically different technologies, we need to maintain this momentum and act now. Our industrial strategy will ensure we keep on working together to make our automotive industry a world leader.”