West Midlands supply firms set to benefit from Nissan investment plans

AUTOMOTIVE suppliers in the West Midlands are set for further new opportunities as a result of the latest multi-million pound investment into the sector by a leading manufacturer.

The latest company to announce a major expansion is Nissan, which is to plough £100m into its massive Sunderland factory to support the production of the new version of its popular Juke model.

Rachel Eade, Automotive Lead at the Business Growth Service, said: “Nissan’s £100m investment is great news for the North East and reinforces the ongoing investment in skills and capacity improvements across the UK automotive supply chain…all gearing towards securing long-term investment and continued increases in volume production.
 
“The deal is positive for the domestic sector as a whole, as we have many auto suppliers across the West Midlands who design and manufacture components that go into the various Nissan models. With the strength of the pound causing some concern, it is definitely a shot in the arm for the global reputation of our world class engineering and manufacturing skills.”

One of the firms likely to benefit is Coventry-based Brose UK, which manufactures vehicle door systems, lift gates, seat structures and electric drives. Its major customer is Jaguar Land Rover but it also supplies Nissan.

The company is in the midst of a major expansion programme, which it announced earlier this year.

This will see the development of a new 11,400 sq m facility on brownfield land adjacent to its existing plant in Exhall and this will be responsible for delivering lightweight seat structures directly to three car makers in the UK.
Backed by the Regional Growth Fund, the firm is investing nearly £35m into the project and the expansion will create 372 new jobs directly and a further 74 in its own supply chain.

Another beneficiary is Oldbury-based design consultancy Futura.

CEO Mark Abel said: “Futura Group has provided support to Nissan on number of design programmes, from early concept stage through to producing show cars for the Geneva Motor Shows.  This includes manufacturing design properties, such as clay models used for styling and testing aerodynamics for efficiency and performance.”
 
While not a direct comment on the Nissan investment, Peter Gallimore, Manufacturing Partner and Automotive Lead at Deloitte in the Midlands, said earlier this week that many manufacturers in the region were remaining upbeat about their long-term prospects.

“Many are investing in talent initiatives and innovative use of technologies to drive growth and increase performance,” he said.