Tata Motors commits to long term R&D in the UK

Tata Motors Limited, India's largest automobile manufacturer, has confirmed its long term commitment to advanced research and development in the UK through the participation of its subsidiary, Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC), in the National Automotive Innovation Campus (NAIC) in a press release.

TMETC will be joined in the NAIC project by its partners, Jaguar Land Rover and the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, which will be built at the University campus and is set to become a national emblem of automotive R&D collaboration, innovation and excellence in the UK.

The NAIC, which represents a total investment of around £100m, will receive funding from Tata Motors of around £30m, alongside the support of its partners, Jaguar Land Rover, WMG and the UK Government's Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE). It will be a research hub where people, research and world-leading infrastructure come together for the creation of world-leading technologies that will stimulate the automotive industry with wide economic benefits and sustained growth. The NAIC will create and develop novel technologies to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions.

The purpose-built NAIC will provide TMETC and its partners with world class tools and facilities to enable cutting edge collaborative research, as well as a central focus for automotive innovation and academic teaching at the University of Warwick, leading to further collaborations with other academic institutions and industrial partners in the UK and internationally. This will significantly enhance TMETC's contribution to Tata Motors' future product innovation and development by creating an environment appropriate for the increased quality of output required as well as its contribution to future collaborative R&D in the UK.

Construction of the NAIC is scheduled to begin in September 2014 and when completed will constitute a major UK automotive R&D asset as well as a consolidation of the long standing relationship and R&D collaboration between TMETC, WMG and Jaguar Land Rover. The building will have iconic design features, a stylish and innovative working environment, state of the art engineering workshops, powertrain and vehicle engineering laboratories, and the latest advanced design, visualisation and rapid prototyping technologies, tailored to facilitate the research and New Vehicle Concept Development phases of the Tata Motors lifecycle model.