A LUXURY car manufacturer in Warwickshire has received a £9million funding boost to drive net zero projects and support over 2.500 jobs.
The news coincided with a visit from business secretary Kemi Badenoch to Aston Martin’s HQ in Gaydon where she met with apprentices and senior leaders and learnt more about the company’s high-performance electrification strategy.
The Department for Business and Trade announced almost £9 million in government funding would be allocated through the Advanced Propulsion Centre to develop Aston Martin’s EV technology.
The project will help accelerate the development of a luxury battery EV platform to drive forward a route to net zero, including vehicle light weighting, a digital toolchain and electrification training.
The move should support over 2,500 local jobs and helping to grow the local economy.
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: “We’re backing our auto sector to succeed, and I was pleased to see firsthand how Aston Martin’s work here in Warwickshire is helping us lead the way on cutting edge new automotive technologies.
“Working in partnership with the car industry, we’re securing high-quality jobs and investment across the UK and growing the green industries of the future.”
Luxury brands are a unique strength in the UK’s auto sector, with 75 to 90 per cent of Aston Martin’s vehicles exported.
During the visit the business secretary praised Aston Martin for flying the flag for British luxury car exports overseas and helping to drive innovation in UK advanced engineering.
Aston Martin’s spokesperson Michael Straughan added: “We were honoured to welcome the business secretary to Gaydon today, providing a valuable opportunity to showcase the huge potential of the UK’s luxury car industry and outline our high-performance electrification strategy, which has been boosted by funding from the APC.
“As a growing, export-led business, Aston Martin is proud to serve as flagbearer for British advanced engineering and is passionate about working with the government to maximise opportunities for economic growth and to support high quality employment.”
Since its foundation in 2013 the APC, through government, has funded 261 low-carbon projects involving 480 partners, working with companies of all sizes, and will have helped to create or safeguard over 58,000 jobs in the UK.
The technologies developed in these projects are projected to save over 400 million tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of removing the lifetime emissions from 16.1 million cars.
