The National Automotive Innovation Centre, at the University of Warwick, saw a construction milestone hit, today, with the completion of the external grounds. WMG’s Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Jaguar Land Rover’s Professor Dr Ralf Speth and TMETC’s John O’Connor, along with Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive, and Rosie Drinkwater, University of Warwick ,marked the milestone with a specially engraved stone.

The Centre, which will open in Summer 2018, will become the driving force behind the future of the UK’s automotive sector. It will be the largest automotive R&D facility in Europe and is a long term commitment between Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors European Technical Centre, and WMG.

A unique, state of the art centre of excellence and innovation for the automotive centre, housing approximately 1,000 scientists, engineers, academics, technicians and support staff working on the automotive technology of the future, including:

• Electric Vehicles (including energy storage and e-drives)
• Carbon Reduction (including hybrids, lightweighting and composites)
• Smart and Connected Vehicles (on-vehicle competence, driver assist, and cyber security)

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya comments “The National Automotive Innovation Centre will provide a critical mass of research and development capability combining automotive expertise nationally and internationally in ways that will turn Coventry into the UK’s first Smart Motor City and will also significantly contribute to the delivery of the UK’s national industrial strategy.”

Professor Dr Speth said, "NAIC will play an important role in shaping future mobility. The finest minds of academia, suppliers and OEMs will work together to define our vision of "destination zero" - zero emissions, accidents and congestions, creating new opportunities out of the forthcoming technology change from ICE to ACE - from the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to smart mobility with Autonomous, Connected and Electrified (ACE) vehicles. NAIC will provide the inspiring environment. NAIC will be the beacon of smart mobility in the United Kingdom"

A total of £150 million is being invested in the National Automotive Innovation Centre building and its research activities, which will bring together OEMs and their supply chain. The Government (Higher Education Funding Council for England) has also provided £15million of funding to support the capital project. It will create 1,000 new direct jobs, help underpin 3,000 jobs in R&D tier 1 suppliers, as well as help train the talent required to meet the demands of emerging technologies and engaging future generations of engineers.

John O’Connor said, “Situated in the heart of the UK automotive industry, the National Automotive Innovation Centre will consolidate all TMETC’s business in one location, co-locating our Design and Engineering teams that lead the early development of new vehicle programs. The collaborative environment of the Centre, and the new technical capability that it brings, will enable TMETC to play a greater role in the success of Tata Motors. In addition to acting as a catalyst for innovation and developing future vehicle technologies to meet rapidly changing global requirements.”

Last month both Mr Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Mr Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons separately made visits to the Centre to see for themselves the progress in its construction.

The National Automotive Innovation Centre was designed by Cullinan Studio and is being constructed by Balfour Beatty. The building will occupy 33,000m2 next to WMG's current facilities on the University of Warwick campus. The four-storey building has a collaborative heart with space for partners, academics, students and the supply chain to work on a range of advanced projects. The ground floor of the building has a large public space, which will host exhibitions relevant to the technologies and concepts being developed.

12 October 2017

Notes to Editors

More information about the Centre https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/naic

About WMG

WMG is a world leading research and education group and an academic department of the University of Warwick, established by Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in 1980 in order to reinvigorate UK manufacturing through the application of cutting edge research and effective knowledge transfer.

WMG has pioneered an international model for working with industry, commerce and public sectors and holds a unique position between academia and industry. The Group’s strength is to provide companies with the opportunity to gain a competitive edge by understanding a company’s strategy and working in partnership with them to create, through multidisciplinary research, ground-breaking products, processes and services.

Every year WMG provides education and training to schoolchildren through to senior executives. There is a growing part-time undergraduate programme for apprentices, as well as full-time undergraduates. The postgraduate programmes have over 2,000 students, in the UK and through centres in China, India, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia.

WMG’s intelligent vehicle research https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/smarter

WMG’s advanced propulsion research https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/advanced_propulsion_systems

Contact: Lisa Barwick, WMG Head of Marketing and Communications, L.Barwick@warwick.ac.uk or 07824 540 845

About JLR

Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer, built around two iconic British car brands: Land Rover, the world’s leading manufacturer of premium all-wheel-drive vehicles; and Jaguar, one of the world’s premier luxury sports saloon and sports car marques.

We employ more than 42,000 people globally and support around 240,000 more through our dealerships, suppliers and local businesses. Manufacturing is centred in the UK, with additional plants in China, Brazil, India and Slovakia.

At Jaguar Land Rover we are driven by a desire to create class-leading products that deliver great customer experiences. The largest investor in R&D in the UK manufacturing sector, we have invested £16 billion in the last seven years and in the current year alone will spend over £4 billion on new product creation and capital expenditure. In 2016 Jaguar Land Rover sold more than 583,000 vehicles in 136 countries, with more than 80 per cent of our vehicles produced in the UK being sold abroad.

Contact: Lisa Palmer, Corporate Affairs Manager, +44 (0) 7557 540611 or lpalmer1@jaguarlandrover.com

About TMETC

Tata Motors European Technical Centre PLC (TMETC), based in Coventry, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Ltd. Created in 2005 as a UK-based centre of excellence for automotive design and engineering, TMETC provides research and development principally for Tata Motors Ltd, but also for selected partners in the automotive industry.

About Cullinan Studio

A cooperative architects practice based in London who design sustainable buildings that respond creatively to their context, climate and local culture. Cullinan Studio has been working with WMG at the University of Warwick since 1992, completing the International Manufacturing Centre in 2002, the International Digital Laboratory in 2008, the International Institute for Product and Service Innovation in 2012 and the International Institute for Nanocomposite Manufacturing in 2014, in a rare collaboration designing buildings for manufacturing research.

Contact

Tom Frew, Senior Press and Media Relations Manager – University of Warwick:

E: a dot t dot frew at warwick dot ac dot uk
M: +44(0)7785433155