The key players in ensuring the car industry and Government work towards the same long-term goals have been announced.
The Automotive Council has been created to develop a co-ordinated strategic approach to the British car industry, and it will be co-chaired by Lord Mandelson and ex-Ford executive Richard Parry Jones.
Among the goals of the Automotive Council are ensuring the UK car industry maximises the opportunities presented by the transition to a low-carbon agenda, and promoting the UK as a key player in the global car industry.
The other Automotive Council members are:David Smith (Deputy), Jaguar Land Rover; Gordon Murray (Deputy), Gordon Murray Design; Joe Greenwell, Ford; Bill Parfitt, GM; Kenneth Keir, Honda; Trevor Mann, Nissan; Jurgen Hedrich, BMW; Graham Smith, Toyota; Jon Carling, Aston Martin; Franz-Josef Paefgen, Bentley; Dave Keene, RDM Automotive/Niche Vehicles Group; Gwenne Henricks, Perkins Engines; Andrea Paver, Leyland Trucks; Hermann Kaess, Robert Bosch; Nigel Stein, GKN Auto; Jerry Hardcastle, Nissan; Barry Dodd, Addpower Technologies; Paul Everitt, SMMT; John Miles, ARUP; Dave Osborne, UNITE; Brian Collins, chief scientific adviser, BIS & DfT.
Announcing the membership, business secretary Mandelson said, "The creation of the Automotive Council has the potential to bring a whole new strategic dimension to the self-management of the industry, and in particular to the way it works with government.
"But of course, it will only be as effective as the people on it, and the ideas and energy they bring to it. It needs to represent every part of the industry – the full supply chain including the research base, and the specialist producers.
"It needs to be proactive and influential and have a very clear forward strategy, based on a very frank assessment of the industry’s strengths and weaknesses. The better that it is able to set out the strategic challenges facing the industry, the better government and industry will be able to respond to them together."
The first meeting of the Automotive Council is expected to be held in December.
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