HORIBA hosts UK Automotive Investment Briefing at the British Embassy, Tokyo

On 20th November, HORIBA and HORIBA MIRA hosted an automotive briefing for senior representatives of major Japanese businesses active in the automotive and related IT sectors at the Ambassador’s Residence at the British Embassy in Tokyo, Japan.

The team welcomed 35 senior executives from 28 companies across the Japanese automotive and Information Technology industries. The event provided delegates with a briefing on the strengths of the UK as an investment location in Europe and explained the major investments HORIBA has made in HORIBA MIRA and the strategic direction that is being considered in growing the business.

The event was supported by His Excellency Paul Madden CMG, the British Ambassador to Japan, who opened the event with a speech outlining the beneficial collaborative relationship the Japanese and UK automotive sectors enjoy. He commented on the major investments being made by HORIBA to support automotive Research & Development (R&D) in the UK through HORIBA MIRA and MIRA Technology Park. The speech also highlighted the UK Government’s investment in skills and infrastructure to ensure the UK can fulfil a global role in the development and validation of the new disruptive emerging automotive technologies like electrification and driverless cars.

Paul Madden said

“HORIBA MIRA, together with its pioneering facilities at the MIRA Technology Park, has promoted the development and growth of the UK as a global automotive destination, driven a significant way by the Japanese investment in that industry. The UK is seeing strong growth and increasing interest in new technologies and we’re in a great position to work with automotive manufacturers and suppliers across the country and Europe.”

The briefing provided delegates the opportunity to hear about recent investments by HORIBA in HORIBA MIRA’s capabilities in automotive technology including: Real world Driving Emissions (RDE), Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) technologies – including the recently announced £26 million TIC-IT facility, vehicle electrification and vehicle resilience. From an inward investment perspective, the speakers also explained how the MIRA Technology Park Enterprise Zone is supporting many overseas companies to establish their European R&D operations in the UK.

Terry Spall, Commercial Director for MIRA Technology Park said:

“The event was really well attended and we have had a lot of positive responses from the delegates. The UK automotive industry has seen sustained growth in recent years and we have a number of Japanese companies based at MIRA Technology Park carrying out R&D work. With increasing demand in emerging automotive technologies and skills, HORIBA MIRA plans to invest further over the coming years in staff and new facilities to support the growth of its CAV, electrification and vehicle resilience capabilities. It is important for us to further showcase how beneficial this can be for Japanese business in Europe, and the day provided us with a great opportunity to engage with industry leaders to achieve that goal.”