Gordon Murray Design 1st Anniversary And An Automotive Revolution

The Anniversary  

On the 4th July 2008 Gordon Murray Design Limited celebrates it’s 1st year of operation.

The Revolution  

With 12 months of the 24 month programme completed on the T.25 city car, the work completed on the new manufacturing process is promising to revolutionise the future of automotive production and the impact that personal transportation has on the environment.

The Company   

The Company is now up to full strength with a headcount of 29 people – collectively they have over 440 years working in the automotive industry and in excess of 1850 man years of co-working experience.

The fit out of the prototyping workshop is now complete which includes full size CNC machining capability and state of the art structural rapid prototyping equipment.

In House Capabilities      

The design office layout reflects our new design process philosophy and integrates the latest technology and software, CAD stations and full size drawing boards.

The graphics section assists design from a very early stage by producing concept sketches, 3D models and photo-realistic renderings aiding digital sign-off alongside physical prototypes.

The workshop is fully equipped for prototype build and development and once again integrates traditional skills and processes with fully mechanised machining facilities. For example, a large 5-Axis computer controlled gantry CNC machine can cut a full size vehicle shape in just 3 days.

In addition, the Company is also capable of assisting manufacturing and technical partners with event management, marketing and PR as well as a whole range of other support services.

Disciplines Covered By The Company      

Management Planning and Schedules Project Management Financial Control Business Planning and Strategy Design Analysis Prototyping Development Electrics Passive Safety Styling Assembly Powertrain Vehicle Dynamics Aerodynamics

Body Engineering Materials Production Technology Logistics and Administration Marketing Event Management Commercial Technical Visualisation/Graphics Engineering Database Design Technology Presentations Film Animation Graphic Design Purchasing Motorsport Programmes Lightweight Technologies

The Team   

Gordon Murray Huw Owen Frank Coppuck Barry Lett Bruce McIntosh Andy Jones Mark Lewis Kevin Richards Tiffany Hutt John Seaborne Simon Porter Paul Flood Jon Ingleby Kevin Doyle Duncan Faulkner Maurice Hennessey Sarah Smith Susan Davies Dylan Murray Zachary Seward Jenna Barnes Mark Howse Andrew Bosworth Graeme Milton Matt Standing John Perrott Andy Jackson Phil Stonestreet Andy Charlton

–  CEO & Technical Director –  Managing Director –  Engineering Director –  Design Director –  Head of Special Projects –  Head of Design –  Head of Operations –  Head of Visualisation –  Head of Communications –  Head of Finance –  Workshop Operations Manager –  Workshop Manager –  Prototyping Applications Manager –  Development Manager –  Process & Systems Engineer –  Support Technician –  Company Assistant/Administrator –  Senior Researcher –  Senior Animator –  Styling & Graphics Assistant –  Archivist –  Senior Workshop Technician –  Senior Electrical Engineer –  Purchasing/Accounts Assistant –  IT Support Engineer –  Purchasing Consultant –  Alias Consultant –  Design Consultant –  Design Consultant

Partners   

Gordon Murray Design has two strategic investment partners – US based MDV – Mohr Davidow Ventures and the UK based Caparo Group.

About Caparo Group      

Caparo is a fast growing, global manufacturing and investment group with a turnover approaching $1.2bn. Caparo’s operations are located at over 50 sites in the UK, North America, India and Spain. Caparo’s recent growth under CEO Angad Paul has been rapid. In 2006 alone, Caparo acquired 22 UK companies, initiated the development of a number of major new businesses in India, made significant additions to its US activities and initiated trading operations in Dubai and China. With traditional business interests predominantly in the manufacture of steel and engineering products, Caparo has recently developed the Caparo Vehicle Products division, CVP. CVP is a group of tier 1 component design, engineering and manufacturing companies providing advanced solutions for the automotive, aerospace, military and motor sports markets, with global manufacturing locations to service both high volume passenger vehicles along with specialist niche applications. For more information, please visit www.caparo.com

About MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures         

MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures is a leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs building start-up companies capable of re-segmenting large existing markets or building altogether new ones. The firm invests in the areas of Cleantech, Internet technologies, and Life Sciences. Since its inception in 1983 the firm has built a reputation among entrepreneurs as a partner by taking a hands-on approach to investments and working skilfully to architect and build successful companies. MDV has $1.4 billion under management. For more information, please visit www.mdv.com.

Associated Companies And Techinical Partners      

• MDV - Mohr Davidow Ventures – Investment Partner

• Caparo Plc – Investment Partner, Manufacturing and Manufacturing Process

• Caparo Vehicle Technologies – Design and Prototyping of Composite Components
  

• Caparo Vehicle Products – Design and Development of Components Materials and Process

• GEO Technology S.A – Engine Development

• Prodrive – Powertrain and Vehicle Development

• Hewlett Packard – Supply of IT Equipment

• Facom – Supply of High Quality Tools and Cabinets.

• Bott Ltd – Supply of Tool and Parts Storage Systems

• Autodesk – Providers of Alias Studio (Computer Aided Industrial Design) Software Products

• Intrinsys – Provider of PLM solutions, Catia and SmarTeam Sales, Software Sales and Support

• MoTec – Manufacturer of advanced engine management and data acquisition systems

• NovaTech – Loadcell Design and Manufacture

• Laser Lines Ltd / Stratasys – Supply & support of Rapid Prototyping equipment.

• MIRA - Passive Safety support & development

• FIA Foundation – Support for Programme

• RAC Foundation – Support for Programme

Project 1 – T.25 City Car      

The T.25 programme is at mid-point with 12 months work completed in the 24 month programme. Work carried out to date is meeting schedule and budget targets and the progress on design is showing that the weight and cost targets are also on track.

The most exciting aspect of this milestone in the programme is that ‘real world’ quotations for the new manufacturing process have shown that all the ambitious targets for a massive reduction in manufacturing, running and lifecycle CO2 damage reductions will be met or bettered.

Component design is almost complete with the first prototype build scheduled to begin in early 2009.

The T.25 programme is not just about innovative vehicle packaging and lightweight design, it also offers solutions to reduce congestion and parking problems whilst addressing the problem of full lifecycle CO2 damage.

The manufacturing process is a complete re-think on the way we build cars and will revolutionise automobile production.

The T.25 is designed to protect our mobility, personal freedom and driving ‘fun’ whilst greatly reducing the environmental damage from vehicle manufacturing and running.

In short, the T.25 architecture, packaging and manufacturing process promises to be the biggest revolution in the mass production of cars in the last 100 years.

Interest in the T.25 programme has been world-wide and Gordon Murray Design is currently in discussion with several prestigious companies and groups regarding both the sale of the T.25 programme for volume production and other versions of vehicles using the same manufacturing process.

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For media enquiries contact:
Tiffany Hutt, Gordon Murray Design Limited
enquiries@gordonmurraydesign.com