Construction of the National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick (www2.warwick.ac.uk) has passed a ‘milestone’ with the completion of the grounds.

WMG’s Lord Bhattacharyya, Jaguar Land Rover’s Ralf Speth and Tata Motors’ John O’Connor — along with Leo Quinn (Balfour Beatty Group chief executive) and Rosie Drinkwater (University of Warwick Group finance director) — marked the moment with a specially engraved stone.

The £150 million centre, which will open next summer, will be the largest automotive R&D facility — a ‘state of the art’ centre of excellence and innovation for the automotive sector, housing about 1,000 scientists, engineers, academics, technicians and support staff working on the automotive technology of the future, including electric vehicles (energy storage and e-drives), carbon reduction (including hybrids, lightweighting and composites), and smart and connected vehicles (on-vehicle competence, driver assist and cyber security).

Lord Bhattacharyya said: “The National Automotive Innovation Centre will provide a critical mass of research and development capability, combining automotive expertise nationally and internationally in ways that will turn Coventry into the UK’s first Smart Motor City, while also making a significant contribution to the delivery of the UK’s national industrial strategy.”

A total of £150 million is being invested in the project, which will bring together OEMs and their supply chain. It will create 1,000 new direct jobs, help to underpin 3,000 jobs in R&D Tier One suppliers, and help to train the talent required to meet the demands of emerging technologies and to engage future generations of engineers.