Government has today, 18 September, announced a £10 million loan to Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) under the Automotive Assistance Programme (AAP) for investment in the West Midlands.
The £10 million from government will support £25 million of investment from Tata Motors to develop and manufacture electric vehicles in the UK. TMETC, based in the West Midlands, is engaged in advanced automotive technology and vehicle product development and employs nearly 180 people. The technical centre is one of a consortium of companies in the West Midlands participating in government’s low carbon vehicle demonstrator programme to accelerate the availability of innovative low carbon cars to consumers.
This is the first loan made under the AAP since its launch in March 2009. The programme is designed to administer the £1 billion of loan guarantees and loans from UK government to the automotive sector, as well as £1.3 billion worth of loan guarantees supporting European Investment Bank (EIB) lending. The AAP is to support the delivery of investment in the UK automotive sector and UK automotive supply chain focused at creating or retaining jobs, developing technology, reducing CO2 emissions and maintaining UK R&D capacity in vehicle manufacturing.
On the announcement of the loan, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said,
“The government is determined to help the car industry to exploit fully the opportunities offered by green manufacturing. Today we are backing Tata as Tata backs Britain.
“This loan will strengthen our electric vehicle manufacturing expertise, securing and creating high value engineering jobs in the West Midlands.”
Tata Motors said, “Tata Motors European Technical Centre plc (TMETC) appreciates the £10 million loan, under the UK government’s Automotive Assistance Programme (AAP), to develop and manufacture the Tata Indica Vista Electric Vehicle in the UK with an investment of £25 million. The Tata Indica Vista EV will be the first four-seater electric car with a range of up to 200 km to become available this year in Europe.”
