Germany may well have bragging rights when it comes to inventing the combustion engine. But when it comes to 21st century technology, it was Wales that got there first. Swansea-born Sir William Grove developed the “gas voltaic battery”… or what we now know as the fuel cell. That was in 1839 – over 20 years before Herr Nikolaus August Otto came up with the first two-stroke engine, and fully 35 years before he advanced to a four-stroke version.

That tradition of innovation still prospers. So if Wales is not a nation you automatically associate with the automotive industry, think again. The country punches above its weight with a $6bn industry employing 25,000. 250 automotive companies are based here - including 40 of the top 100 global leaders.

But perhaps of even more interest to those companies not already there is the sheer range of research and development programmes currently underway which, between them, hold the promise of major leaps forward in the way that cars are designed, built, controlled and powered.

“As a country that has long depended upon the automotive sector for employment and wealth creation, we have had to adapt to the new realities of the global market and create a niche for ourselves,” explains Tim Williams, Chief Executive, Welsh Automotive Forum. “The companies making there mark here know that ingenuity count for more than a low cost base.”

More on technological innovation later, for Wales still believes it can compete in the tough international arena of engine production. Toyota’s Deeside plant produces over 188,000 fully assembled engines annually, plus parts for export and local assembly across the world. A further £110m was recently pledged for the production of the ZR engine used in the new Auris. Engines powering 13,000,000 Ford vehicles have come off the production line at their Bridgend plant over 26 years with 70% exported; their plant too is gearing up for even higher production.