Last Friday Suella visited the globally operating automotive specialist SMR in Portchester to learn more about their innovative wing-mirror technology. During the visit Suella met with the Motherson team in their factory to witness the highly technical manufacturing process of their wing mirrors. Following this, Suella took part in engaging discussions to learn more about how SMR are adapting to a post-Brexit Britain and how they have had to acclimatise to the challenges caused by the pandemic.
SMR are now operating in over 16 countries and they employ over 7,800 people, 483 of these are employed at their Portchester site. With a broad portfolio of manufacturing capabilities, SMR produces a large variety of high-quality products majorly for the automotive industry. The company develops, produces and distributes exterior mirrors, interior mirrors, blind spot detection systems and a wide range of other automotive components. SMR’s products are used by a large variety of car manufacturers including Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Toyota and Volvo. Suella was particularly impressed to learn that the wing mirrors on her Nissan were made in Portchester.
Since Suella’s last visit to SMR in 2015, it was evident that SMR have undergone significant developments to their business by swiftly adapting to the extensively changing automotive industry. Recently SMR have benefitted from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund. Having received a grant of £1 million SMR was able to invest in research and development allowing them to create the ‘EcoMirror’. Their new mirror is smaller, lighter and more aerodynamically efficient. The creation of the ‘EcoMirror’ has led to a projected sales revenue of €118m from 2020-2026 and has helped to secure over 300 jobs as a direct result of this grant.
Commenting Suella Said “Thank you to the team at Motherson in Portchester for showing me around the factory and displaying some of your pioneering automotive technology. Great to see how funding from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund has supported your research, expansion, and job creation. Amazing to learn that the wing-mirrors on my Nissan were made right here in Portchester”
Commenting Suella Said:
“Thank you to the team at Motherson in Portchester for showing me around the factory and displaying some of your pioneering automotive technology. Great to see how funding from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund has supported your research, expansion, and job creation. Amazing to learn that the wing-mirrors on my Nissan were made right here in Portchester”
