The automotive industry in the West Midlands is set to get a
boost, with a new project which will explore ways that the sector
can work together and improve innovation and competitiveness.
Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and Industry has won
a £400,000 contract to research the challenges facing the
sector which are putting the brakes on research and development.
The Collaborating Automotive Regions (CAR) initiative, funded by
Advantage West Midlands, recognises the poor flow of information
between automotive companies, weak relationships between vehicle
manufacturers, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers and the lack of
representation at EU level by Tier 2 component suppliers.
Driving the project forward will be solutions to explore ways of
strengthening automotive clusters and researching how skills and
education and automotive companies can work together.
A two-day conference will be held in January for representatives
from automotive clusters all over Europe and will be chaired by
Malcolm Harbour, a Member of the European Parliament and UK
Conservative.
The theme will be future trends, how to equip supply chains for
the future and issues raised by the current financial crisis.
Further funding will be applied for to implement solutions.
Kishor Pala, EASN Development Manager at the Chamber said: "A
stronger automotive industry in the West Midlands will inevitably,
strengthen the EU automotive sector."