WIREDGOV

Toyota Motor Europe has announced it is investing £240 million to upgrade its car plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire

Toyota Motor Europe has announced today, 16 March 2017, that it is investing £240 million to upgrade its car plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire. Toyota’s investment will improve plant competitiveness and additionally it will promote UK supply chain efficiencies.

Toyota’s significant strategic investment will be backed by up to £21.3 million of government investment, subject to independent assessment and due diligence, to support skills and training, research and development and innovation.

As part of the upgrade, Toyota will be installing its latest production platform, known as Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), with advanced equipment, technology and systems that will enable the plant to produce TNGA vehicles.

The manufacturing site at Burnaston is the latest facility to benefit from a global programme that will see the majority of Toyota’s models using these latest platforms by 2020.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said:

Our automotive sector is one of the most productive in the world and Toyota’s decision to invest £240 million upgrading its Burnaston plant is a further boost to the UK auto sector. I also welcome the prospect of investment to take Toyota New Global Architecture into the supply chain.

Toyota is one of the world’s largest car producers and this inward investment underlines the company’s faith in its employees and will help ensure the plant is well positioned for future Toyota models to be made in the UK.

As we prepare to leave the EU, this government is committed through our Industrial Strategy to ensuring the UK remains one of the best places in the world to do business and we are able to help businesses seize on economic opportunities.

The UK automotive sector continues to perform exceptionally well and has helped ensure the UK remains the location of choice for inward investment. 2016 was another record year for car production which saw a 17-year high, with 80% of the cars produced being exported to over 160 countries globally.

Since 2010 the government has invested over £400 million across the automotive sector and is committing, with industry, over £1.25 billion to 2025 to 2026 for automotive research and development.

Notes to editors:

1. Since 2011 we have invested £2.6 billion through the Regional Growth Fund. This will deliver £16 billion of private sector investment and 557,000 jobs by the mid-2020s.
2. All proposals from any company must be underpinned by strong business cases and tested against published eligibility criteria. All proposals are also subject to rigorous external scrutiny by the independent Industrial Development Advisory Board and are reported on to Parliament.
3. Government and industry together are committing over £1.25 billion to 2025 to 2026 for automotive research and development. To date, the Advanced Propulsion Centre has approved 28 collaborative research and development projects worth £469 million backed with £226 million from government. These projects will help to secure or create over 18,000 jobs and save around 25 million tonnes of CO2.
4. In addition, we are investing a further £390 million by 2020 to 2021 to support ultra-low emission vehicles, renewable fuels and driverless cars.
5. The UK is the third largest European car producer and has the highest productivity in Europe amongst the major automotive producing nations.
6. 2016 was another record year for UK car production which saw a 17-year-high. And over 80% of the cars we produce are exported to over 160 countries.
7. Since 2013 we have seen UK content in UK-made cars increase from 36% to 41% but we know we need to do more to increase this further.
8. Since it was set up in 2013, the Automotive Investment Organisation has helped create or safeguard over 20,000 jobs in the UK automotive supply chain and secured £1.5 billion in new capital investment.
9. The UK also has a world class research base and leadership in key driverless car capabilities. We have an impressive range of collaborative research and development projects across the UK, underpinned by the £100 million Intelligent Mobility Fund.
10. There is now global interest, backed by £100 million from government, in our plans to boost the UK’s testing infrastructure for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) and putting the UK in place to be one of the world’s premier development locations for innovative future vehicle technology. Our CAV programme has been heavily over-subscribed showing the strong level of interest from companies.