LEVC GOES FOR EUROPEAN MARKET GROWTH

Coventry based LEVC – the London Electric Vehicle Company, has agreed a five-year deal with logistics company TVS Supply Chain Solutions to operate a parts distribution network. As part of the agreement, the company will open a new warehouse hub in Eisenach, Germany to boost parts availability for the growing list of LEVC dealers across the globe.

This new partnership supports LEVC’s 2021 European market growth plan and the introduction of the VN5 electric van into Europe this spring. LEVC continues to expand its dealer network across the UK and Europe with the aim to cover 21 markets by the end of this year.

LEVC has come a long way since its beginnings in 1908 when London taxi cab dealers JJ Mann and Tom Overton began importing taxi cabs into the UK. By the 1950s the company was making the first editions of the iconic black London taxi cab so familiar today.

In 2013 Geely Auto, China’s largest privately-owned automotive manufacturer, bought the company having first invested in 2006.

By 2017, the company had changed its name to the London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) and opened a new global headquarters in Ansty, Coventry.

At the time it was the UK’s only dedicated electric vehicle manufacturing plant, and represents an investment of more than £500 million to date.

Housing a research and development centre, as well as manufacturing, quality and testing facilities, it also stands as a centre of competence for lightweight aluminium production and EV technology within the Geely Commercial Vehicles Group.

Designed, engineered and built in Britain, LEVC launched the world’s first zero-emissions capable electric taxi in January 2018.

Last year LEVC launched its first commercial electric vehicle, which it says stands ready to revolutionise the medium-sized van sector. The company says it has a total electrically-driven range of more than 300 miles - made possible by the range-extender.

New trade barriers service launched to help British businesses export internationally

The ‘check for barriers to trading and investing abroad’ digital service will allow users to search for information on trade barriers imposed by other countries, which could restrict businesses in trading and investing there. While not all barriers are necessarily resolvable, businesses will be able to see where barriers have been removed and the new service will highlight potential areas of growth and opportunity for their products or services.

For more information

gov.uk/barriers-tradinginvesting-abroad

The UK’s manufacturers have had a torrid time of it of late. Four years of Brexit preparations, then responding to Covid-19 – both of which are ongoing.

Some manufacturing sectors – in particular aerospace and automotive, saw a huge slump in demand, others –such as the food and drink sector, saw demand go through the roof with all the challenges that brings.

Medical device manufacturers pulled out all the stops to support the pandemic response and there has been no let-up in demand for defence equipment. We have around 12,000 companies in the defence sector in the UK, employing around 250,000 people across the country.

Since the industrial revolution, Britain’s manufacturing sector has risen to every challenge thrown at it. The sector employs around 2.7 million people, contributes around 10 per cent of UK GDP, which is less than financial services or leisure and hospitality, but makes up 53 per cent of our exports.

Now UK manufacturing must make more radical strides. It is being told to embrace the fourth industrial revolution – where smart technology is transforming traditional industrial