UK Motorsport sector success needs to connect better with wider automotive industry
UK Motorsport sector success needs to connect better with wider automotive industry for sustainable future growth says new Motorsport 100 survey (Silverstone: August 2007) A new survey of the UK Motorsport sector has revealed a vibrant British business success story that offers innovative energy efficient technology but needs to connect better with the wider automotive, defence, aerospace, high-tech engineering and petrochemicals industries if it is to have sustainable success in the future. The survey has shown that 73% of motorsports companies sell their innovations into the wider automotive industry. Recognised for its culture of innovation, the UK Motorsport sector is currently the world leader, and provides an iconic success story which flies the flag for the whole UK £50bn high performance engineering sector. But its development of transferable technologies, especially those related to energy-efficient and low carbon innovations such as ultra-light materials and bio-fuel performance, needs to be more systematically marketed to non-motorsport markets, amongst which the wider automotive industry is a key sector. The new survey, Motorsport 100, that will track the industry's fortunes every quarter, was commissioned by public-private partnership Motorsport Development UK (MDUK), and carried out during May/June 2007 by independent researchers Experian. The survey revealed that sales are on the increase both in core markets and in non-motorsport applications. However, the success of the industry needs to be secured for future years in the light of strong foreign competition, especially from Europe. Greatest growth seems to be coming from non-motorsport customers, where innovative technological advances developed for the racetrack are transferred into important wider-market applications in sectors as diverse as wider automotive, aerospace, domestic appliances and medicine. However, the UK motorsport sector also recognises that it needs to improve and extend its marketing skills and the ways in which it connects to other industries in order to systematically, comprehensively and rapidly grow in non-motorsport markets. The survey also revealed that two thirds of respondents are not taking advantage of available grants and government support. This situation is being actively addressed by Motorsport development UK, working to improve skills, make other sectors aware of the industry's potential and create the climate for technology transfer, in order to create sustainable future success. Energy efficiency and the 'carbon footprint' - once a challenge thrown at the motorsport industry - has been converted into a technology opportunity through the sector's thirst for innovation. Respondents to this issue of Motorsport 100 emphasized their conviction that energy efficient and low carbon developments would be at the heart of future transferable technologies coming out of the industry. Bob Gilbert, Chairman, MDUK, notes, "One of the greatest challenges facing British motorsport is the environmental one, both in terms of fuels used and noise. Motorsport is a good development testbed for experimenting with new ideas which can be transferred back for use in the automotive sector and other industries in efforts to make the motor car more acceptable and fuel efficient. The industry is facing many challenges, not only from overseas competition, but from threats to the sport which it serves. Environmental challenges, the fact that the British motorsport relies heavily on unpaid volunteers to facilitate its operations, and the fact that new entrants into British motorsport, particularly the young wishing to engage in four-wheel motorsport, face considerable barriers to entry, are threats which it and the industry need to recognise. As a country, we have a fantastic success story on our hands - one that needs to be reliably sustained in the future both for its own sake, and as a symbol of British engineering and entrepreneurialism." For further press information, please contact:- Aidan Holloway Lindsell Marketing 0207 087 8052 aidan@lindsellmarketing.com The Research - Key Findings a.. The UK motorsport sector is buoyant. 66% of respondents reported an increase in turnover over the last year, and 63% predicted continued growth in the next 12 months. Not only is the sector expanding its turnover but also its profitability. 49% of respondents experiencing an increase in profitability over the past year and 55% expect profitability to grow over the coming year. a.. The proportion of turnover which the industry earns from non-motorsport customers is significant. 47% of respondents report growth in non-motorsport sales. These sales have been to the wider automotive industry (cited by 73% of respondents), specialist manufacturing businesses (50%), other transport sectors (35%), aerospace industries (34%) and the defence sector (10%) Yet although a healthy proportion (58%) of respondents are focusing effort on selling products and services to other sectors, the overwhelming majority of respondents (88%) are still ultra-focused on their main activity: motorsport. a.. Taken together, these two findings imply that UK motorsport could be putting more effort into selling transferable technologies more widely. The sector certainly acknowledges a skills gap in the area of marketing. Whereas only 35% of British businesses nationally see lack of marketing skills as being in need of improvement, in the motorsport industry this rises dramatically to 55%. However, it is very encouraging that the industry is highly aware of its marketing skills gap, and is evidently keen to address the need to spread the sector's increasing innovation and technology to wider markets. a.. On the other hand, the culture of innovation is very strong in UK motorsport. Whereas 62% of all UK businesses feel that generating and nurturing new ideas is part of their business culture, this rises to 92% amongst motorsport industry respondents. Aidan Holloway Account Executive Lindsell Marketing 020 7087 8052 LINDSELL MARKETING LTD. Registered in England & Wales no. 628 1762 29 Company registered office: Civvals Ellam, Marble Arch House, 66-68 Seymour Street, London W1H 5AF