Boris Johnson has pledged to use special legal powers to persuade an electric vehicle EV manufacturer backed by Amazon to establish a European base in Britain.
The prime minister has written to RJ Scaringe, founder and chief executive of Rivian, to give his backing for the proposed location of a new manufacturing plant at a site near Bristol.
In the letter, which was shared with Sky News, Johnson said government officials had been told to devise a bespoke incentives package to encourage Rivian to give the green light to the UK project.
The PM stated that the government would use a special development order called SDO, a rarely used legal power aimed at enabling rapid planning decisions, to enable Rivian use of the site, called Gravity.
According to the account of his letter, he said that his readiness to use an SDO reflects the importance of your project to the UK.
One insider said that the government incentives package that would be available to Rivian was not clear on Friday but could include grants or tax allowances.
Government aid to the UK automotive industry has been controversial in the past, particularly in relation to the Japanese car maker Nissan, but has been a key tool for ministers in securing substantial manufacturing commitments from multinationals such as Ford in recent months.
A delegation led by Lord Grimstone, the minister for investment, is expected to hold talks with senior Rivian executives before Christmas, insiders said.
In September, Mr Johnson had urged Jeff Bezos, the Amazon chairman, to help clinch a deal for Rivian to build a new plant in the west of England.
He raised the issue shortly after executives from the EV manufacturer visited the UK, after a meeting with Mr Bezos in New York.
According to someone who had seen it, Johnson wants to partner with Rivian as one of the most exciting disruptors in the sector, and to use our world-leading green economy.
My government has taken a big step in the direction of the electrification of the automotive sector underpinned by my personal commitment to the industry and the UK's innovation scene is thriving.
My net zero strategy set out over 2.8 billion of funding commitments to support the transition to EVs focusing on R&D, manufacturing, battery supply chains, infrastructure and demand stimulation.
This institutional support alongside our zero emission vehicle mandate is much like that of California s, providing the perfect base from which Rivian can excel and establish itself in the European market. Rivian was listed in New York last month, with its value increasing to make the EV manufacturer more valuable than Ford and General Motors, the two biggest icons of the US automotive industry.
Its stock has fallen back, but it remains well above the initial public offering price.
If it does move ahead with a manufacturing project in Britain in view of competition from several EU countries, it would be a good sign against the predictions that the country s automotive sector would decline after Brexit.
Honda closing its plant in Swindon in 2019 was seen as a major blow to the industry, with Nissan warning that its future investment would be jeopardised if Britain left the trading bloc.
Recent developments involving both the Japanese carmaker and Stellantis have revived hopes of a brighter future for automotive manufacturing in the UK.
The decision to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and the introduction of hybrid vehicles by 2035 has accelerated the need for a huge shift in manufacturing capability.
There are some concerns that the provision of EV charging infrastructure will not keep pace with demand.
Sky News revealed in the summer that Rivian had identified Gravity, a 616 acre campus near Bristol, as a potential site for a new manufacturing plant.
The biggest customer of the company is Amazon, which has placed an order for 100,000 EV trucks, a production of which is scheduled to start this year.
In his letter to Mr Scaringe, the PM said he was confident of the support of British companies such as BT Group, British Gas-owner Centrica and Royal Mail Group, which are among the largest operators of van fleets in Britain.
By the end of the decade, they pledged to buy at least 100,000 British-made electric vans.