British companies which make car parts have benefited from £41m in extra private investment over the past four years, thanks to a £13m government stimulus scheme, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The programme was managed by the SMMT for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
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Participating firms improved manufacturing processes as well as their research and development skills, says the SMMT, leading to growth in turnover and the opening-up of new markets. Some became approved suppliers for car companies.
As a result, 3,200 jobs were created or safeguarded.
Production Engineering Solutions says the local content of British-made cars has risen by eight percentage points since 2011 as the sector enjoys a “renaissance”. The percentage of UK-manufactured parts in the average British-made car is now 44%.
Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, said: “The UK’s automotive industry is one of our biggest success stories [and] continues to attract significant investment from leading manufacturers.”
The recent boost “helped power us towards our goal of increasing UK content in domestically produced vehicles to 50% by 2022”, he added.
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