As many of you will be aware 2007 is the 60th anniversary of the formation of the Automobile Division (AD) within the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. It is therefore a real honour for me to be presiding over the Division during this landmark year and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead. Last year MIRA Ltd, with whom I am gainfully employed, also celebrated its 60th anniversary. As both MIRA and the Automobile Division emanated from the Institution of Automobile Engineers it is somewhat of a coincidence, though I feel appropriate, that MIRA and the AD should come together through my Chairmanship of the AD for this anniversary year.
My first involvement with IMechE goes back to 1985, when I participated in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Competition and I have been an active member ever since. In 1990 I joined the North West AD Centre Committee and later following relocation to the Midlands I joined the Birmingham AD Centre of which I was Chairman from 1997-99.
I have worked for MIRA for over ten years now in various roles ranging from vehicle programme management to my current position in international business development. I have been extremely fortunate in having the opportunity to travel and see our global industry first hand. As well as developing a strong cultural awareness and a significantly enhanced gastric tolerance, my travels have allowed me to gain a very strong appreciation of just how important the automotive industry is to the growth of a nation. My first trip to South Korea in 1995 was quite an education; perhaps the greatest contrast was seeing a very prosperous and rapidly developing auto industry when I have spent most of my working life in an automotive industry in decline.
It is probably true to say these days that most professional engineers working in the UK automotive industry have some international element to their jobs. Either they are working for a foreign owned company, buying or supplying goods or services overseas or even find themselves living and working in another country. We really do have a truly global automotive industry and the UK, despite the demise of our own manufacturers, is still very highly regarded for its automotive engineering resources. From styling through engineering to production, UK designers and engineers are globally recognised and much sought after for their innovation, application and ability to deliver. As an automotive nation, we really do have a brand equity we should be proud of.
The Automobile Division is the professional home for many of those active in our industry and we currently have around 11,000 members of the Institution registered with the Division. Disappointingly, we are seeing a steady decline in the number of institution members registered with the AD. Many would be quick to suggest that this is merely a reflection of our declining industry and whilst that might be true in part, I feel we must shoulder some of the responsibility. Whilst the UK automotive industry has been becoming ever more global, I feel we have remained far too UK centric and in doing so perhaps compromised some of the relevance to our members and our industry which is anything but UK centric.
In countries such as China and India, which have automotive industries seeing double digit growth and engineering ranked as a top tier profession, sadly ‘IMechE’ and ‘Chartered Engineer’ do not muster the recognition that perhaps we would like. When visiting these countries I very often exchange business cards and then find myself in prolonged discussion to explain the meaning of FIMechE and CEng. Perhaps therefore, it is not too surprising that some of our automotive engineering professionals, who operate in our global industry, do not see the relevance of becoming members or if they are already members in maintaining Institution membership.
China and India could both be described as Asian automotive ‘tiger’ economies. Though the term was first coined to describe South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong back in the 80’s many of the defining characteristics such as rapid industrialisation, an export driven economy and double digit growth are now very true of both China and India. In China last year growth in the automotive industry was a staggering 27% and vehicle production exceeded 7.2 million. Installed production capacity amongst China’s 80+ vehicle manufacturers able to produce more than 10k vehicles/annum is now 8.5 million and rising fast. The engineering resource required to feed this growth, from production line worker to professional engineer, is also rising at a phenomenal rate. Whilst China is producing sufficiently large numbers of engineering graduates, knowledge and experience cannot be created at a rate to meet the demand; consequently many Chinese VM’s find the need to look overseas to acquire this ‘commodity’ to support their forward model programmes and the UK is very often featured in their list of places to seek automotive engineering talent.
As these Asian automotive tigers grow there is a window of opportunity for those able to feed their insatiable appetite for technology. The UK automotive fraternity has already risen to this challenge and in almost every corner of our industry you will find strong trade linkages developing. Consequently I feel it is time that we extend the sphere of influence of the AD and build a much stronger international portfolio – as an industry, we have much of what they want and the time is right for us to build stronger international relations and gain greater recognition for the Institution to the ultimate benefit of our members. We can’t change things over night and I am woefully aware that the AD chairmanship is a relatively short tenure, but I am hopeful that we can build a firm foundation, planning a way forward that will see the AD become more internationally significant and turn our current decline into growth.
My Chairman’s Address, which premiers in London on the 1st November, will be entitled ‘Feeding the Tigers’ and will explore the development of some of Asia’s automotive tigers, examining the influence that the UK has had over their formative years. I also plan to consider the possible future scenarios we may face when the tigers eventually come of age. As is traditional I will be making my Address at all of our AD centres and I hope that you have the opportunity to come along.
Turning to some of the more domestic matters, this year we also have a new Vision Statement for the Institution and from a Divisional perspective we will be focusing on what we need to do to ensure we align our own vision and mission to fully complement this new corporate vision. Those of you closely involved with the Division will doubtless be aware that we also have some operational challenges that we must also address. Not least of these is the financial situation resulting from the neutral budget mandate. Such matters are of great importance and you can be assured that every effort will be made by your Board to find a solution that will allow the AD to prosper and to continue to deliver for, and contribute to, the Institution as a whole.
As I mentioned at the start, 2007 is a significant year for the AD as it marks our 60th anniversary. In recognition of this fact we are planning to organise an event for later this year to mark the occasion, one consideration we have is to host an industry dinner with a celebrity speaker relevant to the automotive industry. Your thoughts and ideas on how we should mark our 60th anniversary and also your support in making it both successful and significant for the AD are welcomed.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my predecessors John Lowe, Nick Vaughan and Penny Taylor for their counsel and guidance in my lead up to Chairmanship. I am looking forward with great ambition to my year as Chairman, the AD is something quite special, and it is a real honour to have this opportunity to be in the driving seat. As I have mentioned a year is a short tenure but I am comforted in the fact that we do have a very strong line up of Vice Chairmen who will ensure continuity as well as bringing their own ideas forward to ensure the future prosperity of the Automobile Division.
Terry Spall FIMechE CEng
June 2007
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