Business secretary: Gov pushing hard to grow UK automotive

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has pledged the UK government will “do everything we can to unlock more investment” in the country’s automotive industry, after McLaren announced a £500 million injection into its UK business. Reynolds was in Woking today (16 September) to celebrate McLaren’s landmark pledge, which will bring a new factory, 4000 new jobs and a new generation of UK-built cars. The money will also go towards doubling the size of McLaren’s carbonfibre production facility in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and fund the development of an advanced new paint shop at Woking, which will accelerate production times and open up further bespoke opportunities. Reynolds, who is a car enthusiast, admitted to being “pretty excited” to be addressing the media from McLaren’s production line and he recalled that the 1994 debut of the seminal F1 supercar was “one of the most exciting things I’ve ever seen”. He added, laughing: “I may be willing to tell you that I might have had a poster on my bedroom wall.” But he said this is an especially poignant moment for what McLaren’s investment means for British automotive more widely, and for the future of vehicle development and production in this country. McLaren aims for a large portion of its 4000 new jobs to come from within, via an expanded framework of apprenticeship, graduate and internship programmes. Reynolds said he is “really delighted that this investment is coming from a company that is so committed to training and developing a new generation of workers”. He spoke optimistically about the growth that McLaren’s expansion will promote in Woking and in South Yorkshire, and said: “We want to do everything we can to unlock more investment like this.” Speaking on the same day that Nissan announced a £170m investment into its Sunderland factory to build the new Kicks crossover, Reynolds suggested that the automotive industry forms a core pillar of Burnham’s strategy to “reindustrialise Britain”. He pointed to the £4 billion of support for the sector already pledged under the Drive 35 strategy and said that will go towards electrifying vehicle factories, developing batteries and EV powertrains, hydrogen fuel cells and power electronics. “It’s actually the biggest investment in our car industry in the post-war era,” he said, adding that the government’s British Industrial Competitiveness scheme is planned to lower electricity bills for manufacturers by 25% – a crucial pledge in light of the UK’s energy costs being far higher than those of other European countries. Reynolds was speaking in the context of UK automotive receiving a total of £670m in fresh investment, but that comes just a few days after JLR, the UK’s biggest automotive employer, announced plans to trim its global workforce by as much as 9% – equivalent to 4000 roles. That move forms part of a radical cost-cutting programme conceived in response to a range of factors that are pushing up the cost of building cars – among the most pertinent of which is the imposition of import tariffs in the US, the most important market for the UK’s predominantly premium marques, including JLR, McLaren, Aston Martin and Bentley. Reynolds acknowledged the importance of the US market for UK automotive firms but said the UK government has been “working very hard to secure agreements”. He highlighted that the 10% tariff imposed upon 100,000 UK-built cars every year is a preferential rate that’s much lower than the 25% imposed on EU-built cars. “You may be able to guess negotiating with the US isn't always easy,” he said at McLaren’s Woking HQ. “But being able to be here and see the benefits of that work really, frankly, makes every bit of that work worthwhile.” He also highlighted a recently agreed trade deal with India, which reduces tariffs on UK-built cars from more than 100% to 10%. “This offers huge potential for McLaren – and really for all our British manufacturers – because the number of potential consumers in India is set to grow by millions over the coming decades. “So I think there is much cause for optimism and for hope.” Broadly, he said McLaren’s expansion proves that “the UK is and will remain a great car-making nation”. “Sometimes we make the fastest cars in the world, and McLaren certainly has. But to my mind, we always make the best. And while I am secretary of state, I can promise you this: I will do all I can to help you succeed now and in the years to come."

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Business secretary: Gov pushing hard to grow UK automotive

Jonathan Reynolds hails McLaren's £500m expansion programme as a potential sign of things to come

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Business secretary: Gov pushing hard to grow UK automotive

Jonathan Reynolds hails McLaren's £500m expansion programme as a potential sign of things to come

More from Autocar

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Latest car reviews

Top manufacturers

Quick search

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Legal bits

About Autocar