‘The only way to cope the cut throat competition in automotive market is to introduce the innovative products’ is a general philosophy known to many but practised by only a few! Undoubtedly, Tata group belongs to the latter division. And so, Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus Tata Group, has laid the foundation stone of the automotive innovation centre situated in United Kingdom. This centre which is named as National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC), is being jointly developed by Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, University of Warwick and UK Government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The total investment for this centre amounts to approximately 150 million pounds.
“This foundation today is an investment in the future which will bring academia and industry together, revive skills and capability of various industries to rebuild the prominence of the UK in the area of manufacturing,” said Mr. Tata at the occasion.
The proposed site of National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) is located in the campus of University of Warwick, Coventry, UK and is supposed to be operational by year 2017. The total area of centre is equal to 30,000 sq. meter and it could accommodate nearly 1000 engineers. In addition to the design and simulation space, the innovation centre will also house world’s most adaptable and advanced fully immersive drive-in car simulator. Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover have planned to use NAIC for carrying out their research on autonomous vehicles.
