§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations he has held with his ministerial colleagues on promoting initiatives to make use of the United Kingdom's expertise in motor sport and related technologies to develop improvements to reduce the environmental impact of future production cars. [146909]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonHMG maintain a close working relationship with the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) on a range of issues to enhance the competitiveness of the UK motorsport industry, including the exploitation of related technologies. DTI Ministers and officials continue regular contacts with the major vehicle manufacturers, SMMT and DETR to look at ways of reducing the environmental impact of motor vehicles without reducing the UK's industrial competitiveness. In addition, the DTI-led Foresight Vehicle programme is the 655W UK's national automotive R&D programme which is supporting collaborative R&D in a range of areas including environmental performance (emissions, fuel efficiency, lightweighting and telematics), enhanced safety and lean manufacturing.