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The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation

What would the vehicle of 2030 look like?

Date: Thursday 21 April 2022

The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) and Sytner Group have joined forces to excite the next generation of vehicle users. Separate competitions have been launched for primary and secondary pupils to design a vehicle for 2030 – the year that marks the Government’s Road to Zero abolition of new petrol and diesel car sales.

  • Primary school pupils are being asked to design a vehicle that will be popular in 2030 with an emphasis on new inventions. Entrants must name, brand and promote their concept by creating a poster to advertise it.
  • Secondary school pupils are also being asked to design and brand a vehicle of the future with a specific target audience in mind. Entries must demonstrate how the design was researched and developed, the proposed engineering process and plans to launch and market the vehicle.
“We recently completed a year-long research project called the Diversity Task Force which explored the perceptions of the automotive sector as a future workplace amongst children and young people”, explained Steve Nash, CEO of the Institute of the Motor Industry. “Their views were both enlightening and worrying. Sadly it appears that age-old misperceptions about working in automotive remain which is why our new competitions with Sytner Group are so important.
“The competitions aim to encourage young people from 6 to 18 to try their hand at some of the truly exciting and broad range of roles that are open to them in automotive. The advancement of technology in particular, has created career opportunities never previously dreamt of, and our call for students to design and develop a vehicle for the future will put the spotlight on these. We want them to think about what cars will look like in 2030; how they will run and what features and benefits they will have that have yet to be invented.
“Whether it’s IT architects, android developers and software engineers or brand ambassadors and sustainability professionals, the automotive manufacturing, retailing and aftermarkets offer an abundance of opportunities for young people with a desire to be at the forefront of a leading UK industry. And we hope these new competitions will spark interest as they think about their future career.”

Created with fun and learning in mind by the IMI’s Careers Team, the competitions are supported with built-in lesson plans and worksheets that can be run by schools and clubs or individually at home. Crucially, the Careers Team boasts eight years’ Matrix Standard accreditation – the Department for Education’s (DfE) framework for endorsing information, advice and guidance contractors – which means those who facilitate an entry of the competition can do so with the confidence they are meeting best practice standards. Furthermore, the competition principles adhere to the disciplines of the eight Gatsby Benchmarks, which are widely followed closely by schools to ensure learning and good career guidance go hand in hand.