A stunning ‘virtual’ supercar has been created to showcase the automotive sector skills and expertise of companies in the Black Country.
Although the Black Country Bullet is unlikely to ever make it into production and will live only in digital form, it aims to offer a unique marketing approach to promoting an area that has a long and proud association with manufacturing.
The car was unveiled at the Advanced Engineering Show at the NEC by Invest Black Country, part of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and Business Birmingham.
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The virtual high performance car is made largely from precision components sourced from more than 500 Black Country automotive suppliers, many of whom supply Midland car-makers Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin.
It is estimated there are more than 2,400 automotive suppliers in the area and the Black Country Bullet project, which is being managed by Dudley Council is aiming to get as many of them as possible on board.
Explaining the purpose behind it, Wayne Langford, head of investment at Invest Black Country Said: “The creation of the Black Country Bullet shows that almost an entire car can be built with components, expertise and technology found solely in the Black Country.”
One of the people involved in the project is Matt Neal, marketing director at West Bromwich-based alloy wheel-maker Rimstock, and three times British Touring car Champion.
Mr Neal admits he was initially sceptical about the project when approached by the Invest Black Country team but is now delighted to be a part of it.
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“Rimstock was one of the first three suppliers to sign-up and we are now fully converted to it and convinced of it,” he said. “It’s a fantastic new marketing initiative. It’s innovative as it is web-based and is a shop window to the world.”
The project will be an ongoing one, with the virtual car acting as an evolving medium to highlight the capabilities of supply chain companies in the area.
Mr Neal said one of the benefits was that it would allow potential component buyers to potentially access a whole range of suppliers through a single site.
He added: “Not just national buyers, but global buyers are under increasing pressure to find new products and better products and they are under more pressure time-wise.
“Each OEM is bringing more products to market and they have to find components to facilitate that.”
Mr Neal said the aim now was to persuade more companies to see the benefits and sign-up to it.
“We have 2,400 advanced engineering companies in the Black Country - that is a hell of a databbase,” he said. “Once we get into those sort of numbers then it becomes a great tool for buyers to access.”
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Around 12,500 people are employed in the automotive supply chain throughout the Black Country and the area will be home to Jaguar Land Rover’s new engine plant at the i54 site near Wolverhampton.
It is estimated the industry contributes around £400 million each year to the local economy and has annual sales of automotive components worth £1.2 billion, with the potential to almost treble that figure.
Stewart Towe, chair of the Black Country LEP said: “With the Black Country Bullet we can demonstrate the global strength of our automotive supply chain already supplying prestigious manufacturers and OEMs such as Jaguar Land Rover, JCB, BMW, Bentley and Aston Martin.”
Asked if it was anything more than a pipe dream, Mr Langford added: “If someone wanted to fund us to build it we would be more than happy to accept the challenge. We would certainly have a go, but we would need the money and we would need a lot of it.”