Engineering, research and product testing company Horiba Mira is to build a global skills centre at its Nuneaton technology park thanks to a £9.5m injection from the Leicester and Leicestershire LEP (LLEP) Growth Deal Fund.
The 24,500 sq ft Mira Technology Institute will be a collaboration between North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, Coventry University, Loughborough University, and the University of Leicester.
The company said the new scheme has been launched to help to "satisfy the ever-increasing demand" for specialist skills in the automotive sector.
The centre, which is set to open in September 2018, will help to create specialist skills in some of the new disruptive technology areas such as electrification and driverless car technologies, ensuring a sustainable supply of future technical specialists and engineers.
It is being funded by the LLEP Growth Deal Fund and is backed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Horiba Mira chief executive George Gillespie said: "The MIRA Technology Institute is a unique solution that has been created to address a very real problem the UK automotive sector is facing.
"Importantly, it is well aligned with the government’s new Industrial Strategy.
"It will be a huge asset to Mira Technology Park but we hope its benefits will be felt throughout the UK auto sector and beyond."
Nick Pulley, chairman of the LLEP, said: "The LLEP’s Local Growth Fund has been extremely successful for the Leicester and Leicestershire area.
"We are all very excited about the new Mira Technology Institute which will open for students next September.
"This is a great investment and will see an outstanding 2,500 training places each year."