The move to autonomous vehicles will be far more momentous than the current move to electric vehicles, guests at the coachmakers livery annual automotive dinner have been told.

John McLaren, one of the two keynote speakers of the Automotive Award to Industry dinner hosted by the Worshipful Company of the Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers, the Chairman of Eagle E-Types, told more than 140 members of the coachmakers and their guests at dinner at the Grocers Livery Hall in the City of London that despite dramatic advances in range and charging times autonomous vehicles will prove far more momentous.

John said: “As you know, they are now being used as taxis in some US cities. Once the tech is fully developed, and the cars widely available, why would most members of the future generations living in urban areas put themselves through the rather painful and expensive process of passing a test, and buying, insuring, taxing and maintaining a car if with a swipe they could summon a vehicle to take them locally or long range, with no driver taking up a seat?”

He added: “Things will be different in rural areas and less developed markets, but my hunch is the demand for individual car ownership in cities will fall dramatically and most cars will become a low margin commodity product. The rich will want to keep their own cars – so high-end luxury products like Rolls, Bentley, Range Rover and – who knows, even the reborn Jaguar – should do fine. Motorsport will continue to grow, as will an interest in classic cars – and both of these are fields where the UK dominates globally and which between them generate well over 100,000 highly skilled jobs here. Maybe, after all, it’s not such a tragedy that we failed to keep the faith with the likes of Rover, Triumph, and Austin, because if we had they would soon get sucked into that commodity vortex. You could make a case that, instead of being a basket case, we Brits are, perhaps accidentally, rather well-positioned for the future.”

Another keynote speaker Michael Quinn, whose Grandfather Sir William Lyons was founder, majority shareholder and Chairman of Jaguar cars, said: “My grandfather and Jaguar were indelibly interwoven, in that every touch-point, everything the eye could rest upon was subject to his personal approval. It was granddad who orchestrated, directed and inspired Jaguar’s creative forces; his was the uncanny eye for line. You see, granddad was also Jaguar’s Designer-in-Chief from its inception until his retirement in 1972 – and actually a little after that too! Made a Royal Designer for Industry in 1954, he remains celebrated as one of the great car designers of all time, William Lyons’ legacy lives on in every classic Jaguar on the road today.

“But also, in a more modest way – in the SWL Charitable Trust which he formed in 1968. I am proud to chair it currently, and this evening’s award is just one of several we make to young people looking to enter the automotive world in Britain. I am very pleased that we are contributing in some way to the great work of The Coachmakers in the support of young people through The Motor Centenary Award. Not least because I know that my grandfather was very proud of his 1972 Coachmakers Award to Industry – the first awarded – which he shared with the creators of Concorde. My thanks go to Giles Taylor and his team for such excellent work in supporting these awards for the next generation of engineers and Coachmakers.”

The Master Coachmaker, Stephen Fitzgerald, in response to both guest speakers, said: “I would like to thank both John McLaren and Sir William’s grandson liveryman Michael Quinn for attending this evening to make our dinner special. I am also pleased to announce that in this afternoon’s Court meeting, the Court approved the formation of the Coachmakers’ Car Club. I would like to say a special thank you to Liveryman Nick Lyford who has put in a lot of hard work to make this happen.”

The Chairman of the Automotive charity sub-committee, Court Assistant Giles Taylor, was also present and supported the Master in welcoming the talented students on the evening. At the dinner, eight young award winners, representing various fields of the automotive industry, had receive their certificates in person.

Giles commented: “True to our Coachmaker ethos – an active Livery supporting young people, it was extremely rewarding for all to see such a talented line up of students and apprentices starting out in their careers with the support and guidance from our dedicated committee members. We are thrilled to be able to make our contribution in the early phase of their automotive industry ambitions. We will follow their progress with great interest as we look to further expand our awards in the coming years.”

The 2024 awards cover 3 main automotive disciplines: Design, Engineering and Heritage Skills. With the highly valued support of partner Colleges and Universities, each year the Coachmakers of London aim to provide a significant level of monetary support to outstanding talent to further their career ambitions including those otherwise unable to access costly educational and skills training courses.