Minister visits Banbury's Prodrive facility

Dr Liam Fox and David Gregory of Ford Europe. Prodrive visit NNL-170124-114815001

The Secretary of State saw for himself a number of projects including a new hybrid Ford Transit van, launched this week.

The new vehicle is part of a multi-million pound project designed to help improve air quality in London. Prodrive has helped develop the hybrid drivetrain and will build the 20 Plug-in Electric Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV) Transits.

The Secretary of State was also shown Prodrive’s new Hummingbird folding bike.

Dr Liam Fox with Prodrive's Hummingbird folding bike NNL-170124-115019001

The light carbon-framed bike is, at just 6.7 kg, the lightest of its kind in the world.

Dr Fox said: “Trade and investment is a vital part of building an economy that works for all, creating jobs and transforming local communities and industry.

“Prodrive is a fantastic example of innovative British automotive engineering at its best and a great illustration of our how we can and should be exporting our world-class expertise to benefit our economy.

He added: “The UK is open and ready for business and the launch of the Industrial Strategy today shows our commitment to improving growth and productivity across the whole country.”