Investment in U.K.

Terribull I heard Netflix is going into Shepperton Studios not Pinewood.

Good to see investment coming into the UK.

GrannyGravy13

Yippee! I was so glad when I heard this! Wonderful for ........ East Midlands ........

BUT and it is a big BUT: -

Castle Bromwich is in the West Midlands

Not all of us want to drive on motorways. If it's driving for pleasure then how many charging points are on A and B roads?

Any investment in GB is great news and it's a start, however, we need manufacturing on a massive scale to compete with the Asian markets.

Jaguar are very brave embracing this EV expansion, even to the extent of building their own factory to do it at Hams Hall, let’s hope it works out for them.
With sales of EVs falling and lower grant incentives I guess HMRC are pondering the lack of fuel taxes if electric takes off. In addition EVs do not save one gram of CO2, it is simply moved to a power station, although it does reduce city pollution.
We only get a real benefit if we have a high proportion of renewable energy, maybe by 2040 we will get to that point

Electric cars are the future so this is a good start, and hope Jaguar Land Rover will do really well.

It is starting to look as if the economy has switched from a hare to a tortoise. It isn’t very fast – but it is slow and steady. In the long run, that may well turn out to be better. After all, it was the tortoise that won the race – and steady, durable growth may well make us richer than lots of turbocharged booms and busts!

I read that the UK has a great opportunity to reinvent itself as a digital leader. We have the people, the ideas and the companies to become one of the best technology-enabled countries in the world.

The UK is at the forefront of the rollout of 5G. In years to come, 5G mobile wireless technology will help improve the way we work, live and travel across the UK.

It will help attract inward investment to the UK and provide the communications infrastructure required to support new digital industries and encourage start-ups to stay and thrive on home soil.

?

People in the know are aware that the financial industries priced in Brexit a long time ago. They are more worried about a Corbyn government.

For those "celebrating" the announcement of this investment, it may be wise to look at the recent history of the owners of Jaguar Land Rover. Those owners are the Tata group which is an Indian family based multinational investment organisation.

Part of the organisation's history in British industry is in the purchase of the Port Talbot steel plant which it promised to make significant investments in when it initially bought the plant in 2010. Despite those promises, the plant has received no real financing despite the unions and workforce agreeing numerous reductions in pay and conditions along with a large write off of the pensions deficit built up by the owners.

In short, Tata has, in reality, just taken the profits from the Port Talbot steel plant over the years and ploughed nothing back. The plant has been under threat of closure for some time now, with the owners of recent looking for a merger or buyer in a German Steel producer.

Sadly similar has happened with Jaguar Land Rover in recent years. Under Tata ownership the company has lacked any real forward investment which has allowed its line of vehicles to become outdated in a rapidly changing market. Evidence to the foregoing can be witnessed by its financial performance in recent years culminating this year by making the biggest loss in its history, sinking £3.6 billion into the red.

Tata had stated that it planned a new plant for Jaguar Land Rover production somewhere in Europe, but the above losses have now made that impossible. Therfore the existing plant will now have to be "adapted" should any investment capital ever be forthcoming from Tata.

My view is that Tata will ask the government to "contribute" to the upgrade of the plant in some way, and once again we will see the workforce having to agree to reductions in terms and conditions for the investment to take place.

However, Port Talbot has demonstrated just what this company are, and therfore like many, I will wait and see if that investment actually happens. It should also be remembered that the Tata sons where part of the investment group that purchased Rover Cars some years back, and look what happened there.

Urmstomgran We're hardly in the forefront of 5g rollout. South Korea is the first country to implement full scale 5G technology.

There aren't enough charging stations for electric cars nor are the batteries good enough for long journeys

Exactly GabriellaG . I live in a fairly large town where there are 2 charging points in the town centre (yes 2). I also live in an area where almost all the housing is terraced. There are 2 steps from my front door to the pavement, no drives around here so no where for a charging point . The technology will come where batteries will be smaller and able to hold more charge but as it stands, we are way off.

My son has a charging point at his house. 5p a mile I think it works out at.

I don’t honestly think we are way off as far as the technology is concerned but we probably are in this country. There needs some infrastructure spending, so I wouldn’t hold your breath?.

Other countries who manage their economics better than our lot like the Scandinavian and Germany will see a huge difference in their air quality, whilst we continue to kill our children. Still not to worry, tax cuts are imminent - wheeeeee!

Honestly, some people just love to talk down the U.K. I think it says a lot about them. Can people not just look for ‘good news’ to post (it is out there) and cheer rather than turn every snippet into doom and gloom?

Such Eeyores.
??

Not many houses where I live have drives or off street parking though Whitewave so nowhere for charging points to go and so far we have the grand total of 2 charging points in town. Not “doom and gloom” just a fact.

Urmstongran Quote [ Honestly, some people just love to talk down the U.K. I think it says a lot about them. Can people not just look for ‘good news’ to post (it is out there) and cheer rather than turn every snippet into doom and gloom?

Such Eeyores.] End Quote

Urmstongran, perhaps you should look at the reality of the situation in regard to Tata owning Jaguar Land Rover and the Port Talbot Steel plant.

As I stated in my post @ 07:17 today (07/07/19) Tata are a family based investment company with a very poor record regarding the maintenance of investment and structure in the industrial assets they acquire in Britain. I will be the first to applaud the company IF this proposed investment does actually come about, but previous experience of Tata demonstrates that it well may not.

The above was in all probability why so many respected analyst in the vehicle production industry were so muted in their comments when this investment announcement was made.

As any previous workers at the Rover Car plant and the present workforce at the Port Talbot Steel plant would I am sure inform anyone, "wait and see what Tata actually do, rather than what Tata state they will do.