NAIC set to keep UK at cutting edge of automotive innovation says JLR

CONSTRUCTION has officially begun on the £150m National Automotive Innovation Centre in Coventry.

The new centre, which will eventually open in spring 2017, is set to provide a state-of-the-art technology hub for Jaguar Land Rover’s advanced research team and collaborative partners from the supply chain and academia.

To keep the UK and JLR at the forefront of global innovation, the team will develop the vehicles and personal mobility solutions of the future.

The NAIC will focus on inspiring the next generation of engineers – from schoolchildren to undergraduates. This will develop the skills required to keep the UK globally competitive in the automotive industry.

The 33,000m² facility will complement JLR’s product research and development centres in Gaydon and Whitley.

The centre is a partnership between the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), JLR, Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) and the UK Government’s Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE).

Dignitaries including Ratan Tata (Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group), Cyrus Mistry (chairman of Tata Group) and JLR chief executive Dr Ralf Speth were all at the launch ceremony, where they were accompanied by Professor Lord Bhattacharyya (chairman and founder of WMG). They joined to unveil the foundation stone for the centre, which is based within the campus of the University of Warwick.

Once complete, the centre will become the hub for Jaguar Land Rover’s advanced research and will boast cutting-edge workshops, laboratories, virtual engineering suites and advanced powertrain facilities, equipped to enable a full range of design, visualisation and prototyping activities.

The development of the NAIC project is the next stage in JLR’s strategy to develop its global R&D and engineering capability. The company today employs more than 8,000 engineers and designers in the UK and is investing more than ever before in new technologies, skills and facilities. In the financial year 2015/16 the business will invest up to £3.8bn in product creation.

Dr Speth said: “The NAIC will serve as a generator of new skills and new thinking, providing a perfect, collaborative environment in which to learn, research and develop the designs and technologies that will shape the vehicles and personal mobility solutions of the future.

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“As well as helping Jaguar Land Rover create key technologies that will deliver new experiences for our customers; smarter, safer and more connected cars and a low-carbon future, the centre will deliver wider benefits to the UK automotive industry. The NAIC will have a significant role inspiring the engineers of tomorrow and will help develop the skills we need the UK to nurture and develop to ensure we remain globally competitive.”

Along with hosting visits from schoolchildren to inspire them to begin a STEM-based career, the NAIC will also start to address the shortage of skilled R&D staff in the automotive supply chain. The aim is to help create a pipeline of people into companies nationwide, including the creation of many apprentices in specific areas of vehicle technology.

When the centre opens in 2017, 1,000 people will work there and it will enable JLR to co-locate 600 of its engineers, researchers and technologists to work collaboratively with academics and R&D specialists from across the automotive supply chain.  

Professor Bhattacharyya said: “The automotive industry in the UK has seen a recent resurgence, but for the UK to remain internationally competitive we must create urgently a critical mass in research excellence.

“Our vision is to create the NAIC where we link people, research and world-leading infrastructure to create and develop novel technologies.  NAIC will be an ‘engine’ for economic growth, with wide economic benefit, and sustained growth from the creation of world-leading technologies. It will enable academic and industry teams to work together in state of the art buildings, with tailored equipment and digital solutions to create and integrate breakthrough technologies with a whole system approach crossing multiple disciplines.”