In the aftermath of the coalition’s cancellation of Labour’s loan to Forgemasters, NABO is calling on Tesla and Toyota to tap into Britain’s ‘next generation’ expertise.
Tesla Motors’ announcement of a shares sale has prompted Jonathan Jay, the founder of NABO, an alliance of small business owners spread throughout the UK, to call on the electric car manufacturer to harness the UK’s superior automotive engineering prowess.
Elon Musk, the South African founder of US-based Tesla, declared a shares sale yesterday, which he hopes will raise $185m, alongside a $50m investment from Toyota, owner of one of the UK’s largest car manufacturing plants.
In response, Jonathan Jay said:
The era of mass-produced cars from a British-owned manufacturer may have passed some time ago, but the expertise in this country in the area of specialised prototyping is unmatched anywhere else in the world
Jonathan Jay, NABO founder
“The era of mass-produced cars from a British-owned manufacturer may have passed some time ago, but the expertise in this country in the area of specialised prototyping is unmatched anywhere else in the world. It’s this expertise that sets the UK’s engineering industry up perfectly for use by manufacturers investing in uniquely challenging projects, like the one Tesla and Toyota are set to embark upon.”
Britain is globally viewed as a world leader in advanced, forward-thinking automotive technology, and the agile nature of the small businesses that lead it would fit in perfectly with the partnership between Tesla and Toyota.
However, UK business practices are also considered to be both expensive and unwieldy in comparison to its South American and Asian counterparts. This hasn’t prevented “Volkswagen heading to Britain for the gearbox of the Bugatti Veyron” and “Porsche using Williams F1’s KERS system in its 911 hybrid racer” though, as Jonathan Jay keenly illustrates.
Elon Musk, meanwhile, is celebrating Tesla sister company SpaceX’s new $500m contract with Iridium Communications. SpaceX, established in 2002 as a manufacturer of space launch vehicles, will provide launch services for Iridium NEXT, Iridium's next generation satellites.
"We're announcing today the biggest commercial launch deal in history, to the best of my knowledge," said Musk of the deal.
