Bosses from some of the UK’s biggest advanced automotive manufacturers and suppliers today came together for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Regional Forum, held in Liverpool for the first time.
Hosted at Rum Warehouse, the event will explore how manufacturers can benefit from the shift to zero emission mobility and secure new business to drive jobs and growth across the North West.
A hotspot for automotive production for more than a century, some £2.8 billion has been invested in the region since 2021, helping transform factories from making combustion engines to electric vehicles and components.
Massive commitments have come from global brands including Bentley, Ford, JLR, and Stellantis and today the region is home to the UK’s largest all-electric manufacturing plant at Ellesmere Port, with transformations at factories in Halewood and Crewe well underway.
The region benefits from a strategic location with ready access to ports and a significant local talent pool on which to draw. New SMMT analysis reveals the importance of the North West to UK automotive manufacturing with firms in the area directly responsible for some 20,000 jobs, supporting 1 in 7 UK automotive workers and producing 1 in 7 vehicles made in the country last year, equivalent to more than 140,000 units.2
With suppliers, engineering firms, research institutions and many more organisations in adjacent sectors from hospitality to logistics, freight and shipping all depending on the auto sector, a successful North West industry not only directly supports jobs and livelihoods across the region, but, given most vehicles built in the area are for export, it also powers the wider UK economy.