On Sunday, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone was won in a Red Bull, one of the eight F1 teams based here in the UK. And whilst I don't want to take anything away from Mark Webber's Australian pedigree, he too lives here in Britain.
As well as Webber, Red Bull and the seven other F1 teams, the UK is also home to seven volume car manufacturers, six commercial vehicle manufacturers, 11 bus and coach manufacturers and more than 100 specialist vehicle manufacturers. The industry produces over one million cars every year and supports over 700,000 jobs.
The UK has a successful automotive industry. And, representing a constituency in the West Midlands, I know how important it is to our economy.
Over £5.6 billion of investment has been committed by automotive companies across the country over the last 18 months. Only yesterday, BMW announced a further £250 million investment in the Mini at its UK plants in Oxford, Swindon and Hams Hall.
The industry has demonstrated that it is delivering on opportunities to advance UK ambitions as a leading manufacturing force - but neither industry nor government can be complacent.
That is why a cross-party group of MPs and Peers are today calling on the government to continue to work with the UK automotive industry to establish a long-term framework for growth and ensure companies can access the finance required to deliver growth opportunities.
Our report, Delivering opportunities: Automotive investment for growth, is based on the discussions of the All-Party Parliamentary Motor Group with parliamentarians, ministers, officials, industry representatives and trade unions over the last year.
The report looks at both the challenges and opportunities facing the UK automotive industry including the strength of the supply chain; low carbon technology and consumer choices; access to finance and investment; and collaboration between motorsport and other industries.
We make four key recommendations to the government:
1. The government should establish a structured dialogue between the financial and automotive industries in order to enable businesses across automotive and manufacturing sectors to access finance.
2. The government should bring forward innovative support to allow smaller supply chain firms to take on apprentices and increase efforts to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in schools.
3. The government should bolster its offer of support for low carbon R&D and incentives for charging infrastructure, and include opportunities for low carbon vehicle purchasing in its review of procurement.
4. The government should support the motorsport industry to create a technology roadmap and collaborate with other industries including aerospace, automotive and defence.
I'll say it again - the UK has a successful automotive industry. But more can, and should, be done to build on the industry's recent successes and establish a long-term framework for growth.