Birmingham Post

JLR boss hopes to see car production return to birth city

- Simon Gilbert Staff Reporter

JAGUAR Land Rover boss Ralf Speth has spoken optimistic­ally about the prospect of car manufactur­ing returning to Coventry, where the company is headquarte­red.

The JLR chief executive spoke to the Post’s sister paper, The Coventry Telegraph, after a private summit involving government Business Secretary Greg Clark, Labour peer and Warwick manufactur­ing Group (WMG) chairman Lord Kumar Bhattachar­yya, and Tory West Midlands mayoral candidate Andy Street.

Asked if he was confident JLR could return car manufactur­ing to Coventry, he said: “Yes. If you really work together and pick the opportunit­ies the mobility sector is going to provide.”

Mr Speth has been clear that a number of things need to happen in order for car building to return to the city. In November he issued a shopping list to government which included an increased energy supply, improved infrastruc­ture, access to land and an improved 5G mobile network.

Asked how he felt after discussion­s with Mr Clark, Mr Speth said: “I am very much encouraged.

“The automotive industry is going to see more change in the next five years than we have seen in the last 50.

“We’re going from the internal combustion engine to autonomous, connected, electrifie­d hybridisat­ion – but also there are mobility issues.

“That means we have to really work together. Government, university, supply chain, industry have to work together.

“Nobody can do it alone anymore because there is a connectivi­ty between all these types of sectors.

“Especially here in the Midlands, there is a seed that can really grow and make a difference. We can really integrate this new technology in the very best way and test it in a safe environmen­t.”

He added: “It’s not just about Jaguar Land Rover, it’s bigger than Jaguar Land Rover. At the end of the day, if the automotive industry work with the energy sector in a better way, we can avoid building additional power plants. All of us have to integrate – there are so many opportunit­ies.”

Mr Speth emphasised that time was of the essence in order for Coventry to lead the global automotive revolution – and to avoid being overtaken by the likes of China or the USA.

He said: “I was just in China and the US for automotive shows. What you see, the pace and the speed of innovation, other countries really accelerati­ng and taking over leadership, taking over the jobs. From my point of view it’s better if there is an industrial strategy so that together there’s a new pace and a new speed.”

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