Driverless, automated & connected: How the Gov’t is planning a revival of the UK’s motor industry

The UK government has set its sights on boosting manufacturing in the country, with a mission to make Great Britain great again in the automotive space.

Even though it is far from President Barack Obama's $4 billion driverless car budgetproposal, the UK Government is investing over half a billion of pounds into the automotive space, with the first roll out of unmanned vehicles to start later this year.

In the first week of February 2016, eight projects related to smart connected cars were awarded ￡20 million in a Government and industry backed competition to prepare the country for the driverless car (r)evolution.

But how can the UK stay ahead of other European nations such as France or Germany? According to the Government, the fact that the UK has never ratified the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic is allowing Downing Street to put forward driverless car legislation and related initiatives.

The declaration states that "every moving vehicle or combination of vehicles shall have a driver" and that "every driver shall at all times be able to control his vehicle or to guide his animals".

By not having these restrictions, the UK's automotive industry has been growing and shaping up for the next generation of cars, with particular growth seen over the last 24 months.

According to the House of Commons, the UK motor vehicle manufacture industry contributed ￡12 billion to the economy in 2014, 0.8% of total output, but 8% of manufacturing output. This followed a decline in the industry during the recession of 2008 and 2009, when the economic output of the motor sector was ￡8.4 billion and ￡6.7 billion respectively.

In 2014, 1.6 million vehicles were produced in the UK, 78% of which were exported. The value of exports totalled ￡26 billion while imports totalled ￡28 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of ￡2 billion. However, car registrations in the country reached an all-time high, with over 2.4 million in 2014.

142,000 Brits are employed by the automotive industry. This is far from the record number of people employed in the motor industry, which reached 502,000 in 1971.

Today, with over 35 million cars on the road, the UK is also on the top 25 countries based on the number of vehicles per capita at 550 for every 1,000 citizens. The list is topped by San Marino with a ratio of 1,263 vehicles per 1,000 people.

The aforementioned ￡12 billion economic benefit to the economy, could shoot up to ￡51 billion by 2030, with an additional 320,000 jobs created in this space, according to KPMG.

The company also predicts that the development of autonomous and connected cars will help to reduce road traffic accidents by more than 25,000 a year in the next 15 years.

Globally, the intelligent mobility market is estimated to be worth ￡900 billion per year by 2025, according to gov.uk.

Click here to read one of the most complete reports on the UK's take on driverless cars.