The UK government has been warned in the rush to ‘greener’ motoring not to target Britain’s executive car manufacturers – by one of its own ministers.
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Delivering the first BenGold lecture during the British International Motor Show at London’s ExCel Centre, Lord Digby Jones praised the expansion of electric cars present at the show, but added that such expansion should not be at the expense of Britain’s established and highly successful upmarket car industry. To do so risked that industry moving elsewhere in the world.
“If in doing so governments of any calibre declare war on Jaguar, on Bentley at Crewe, Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, on Aston Martin, it will not make this planet cleaner at all,” Lord Jones said.
“What globalisation does is allow choice – a manufacturer can say ‘okay, if you don’t want us, we will go to another country that does.’ Whether such cars are made in Britain or a country that makes them feel more welcome, China, India, America, these brands will survive.”
Lord Jones, a former adviser to Jaguar/Land Rover and one of the government’s non politically-affiliated ministers appointed last year by prime minister Gordon Brown [who inspected electric vehicles at the show this week] on the basis of their specific expertise, said he was all in favour of pressure being put on manufacturers to produce technology improving such areas as emissions.
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By GlobalData“But don’t let it get to the point where these manufacturers no longer feel welcome, where they are victimised and demonised. It’s not going to help the 160,000 people working in the industry, it’s not going to help the exchequer [UK treasury].”
Lord Jones added that he wanted the argument for improving cars balanced in a way that it wasn’t currently, and he also wanted an end to claims that Britain no longer has a car manufacturing industry.
“Last year, 1.5m cars were made in Britain, and we exported 77% of them,” Lord Jones said. “Six out of the top 10 motor manufacturers make cars in the UK, while 19 of the top 20 component manufacturers make parts in the UK. Our automotive manufacturing capability employs 160,000 people, and another 200,000 are employed in the component supply industry.”
Lord Jones emphasised that Britain has a particular skill for producing cars for the upmarket sector. Having attended the motor show direct from a business trip to Saudi Arabia, he related how the first five cars he saw in Riyadh were a Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Bentley and Mini, all made in Britain.
He also suggested that Jaguar/Land Rover would not have been nearly such an appealing purchase to Indian giant Tata, had the two brands not been British.
“Jaguar has orders for the XF three years in advance. Aston Martin’s ’09 allocation for Moscow was sold almost immediately,” Lord Jones said, adding; “The most productive car plant in Europe, and second in the world, is Nissan at Sunderland. Ford’s most productive car plant anywhere before it was sold was Jaguar in Liverpool. We make fabulous, wonderful cars in this country, and next time you hear someone denigrating our car industry, you should please call for a bit more balance in the argument.”
Andrew Charman
