Automotive Industry Summit to be held in Birmingham
Jan 23 2009 By Alun Thorne
Leading figures from business, politics and the unions are set to attend a summit in Birmingham to pile pressure on the government to step in and help the ailing automotive industry.
Jaguar Land Rover boss David Smith will address the Automotive Industry Summit at the ICC on February 3 from a which a manifesto of support for the car making sector will be drawn up and delivered to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson when he visits the city later in the week.
The event, which is being supported by Birmingham City Council, Marketing Birmingham and Birmingham Post publisher BPM Media (Midlands) Ltd, follows a massive groundswell of support for a rescue plan for Jaguar Land Rover which has been severely hit by the current credit crunch.
The issues facing the entire sector were brought into sharper focus as the latest car production figures revealed that barely half as many cars were produced in December last year compared to 2007 and Bentley became the latest company to announce a prolonged shut-down due to the worldwide downturn in car sales, stopping all production for seven weeks in the spring.
The shut down follows a similar announcement by Honda last week and a number of suppliers to the automotive industry in the West Midlands have already succumbed to administration with many more expected to follow unless a rescue package is agreed in the next few weeks.
Jaguar Land Rover - whose XF model was named What Car?’s Best Executive Car - directly employs 16,000 people at plants in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside with up to another 100,000 jobs affected in the supply chain.
Three weeks ago the Birmingham Post - alongside four other leading regional titles - launched a unique campaign aimed at persuading the government to provide a package of financial assistance for the Warwickshire-based company - now owned by the Indian Tata conglomerate - which has enjoyed one of its best ever years in terms of sales but has seen its credit lines disappear in the banking crisis.
The campaign has received backing from across the business and political world and a petition on the Downing Street website has received thousands of names and was mentioned during a debate in the House of Commons.
According to the latest figures released, the number of cars made in December fell 47.5 per cent compared with December 2007, while commercial vehicle (CV) production was down 56.7 per cent.
The huge falls last month meant that car production for the whole of 2008 was 5.7 per cent down on 2007, with CV production falling 5.9 per cent.
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief executive Paul Everitt said: “UK vehicle production figures for 2008 demonstrate both the strength of the sector and the very dramatic fall in demand in the last quarter.
“UK facilities are globally competitive with high productivity levels and hugely attractive model line-ups. Exports account for 75 per cent of all UK vehicle production, serving more than 100 markets around the world.”
He went on: “The automotive industry is of strategic economic and social importance, reflected in the measures to support the industry being discussed by governments across Europe and around the world.
“The SMMT has been in close discussion with the UK Government on the urgent need to improve access to credit and kick-start demand in the market, in order to sustain valuable industrial capability during this exceptionally difficult period.
“SMMT is looking forward to meeting with Lord Mandelson before the end of January to receive the Government’s response to the proposals we submitted at our November meeting.”
