status private limited company purpose providing engineering services to global automotive and transport industries location nuneaton warwickshire united kingdom region served worldwide parent organization horiba website www.horiba mira.com horiba mira ltd. formerly the motor industry research association is an automotive engineering and development consultancy company headquartered near nuneaton in warwickshire united kingdom . it provides product engineering research testing information and certification services to the automotive sector . its headquarters are in the mira technology park enterprise zone . on 14 july 2015 mira announced that it was being bought by the japanese owned testing equipment group horiba . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 pooling of expertise 1.3 secondary safety 1.4 commercial organisation 2 technology park 3 former airfield 4 operations 5 references 6 external links history edit origins edit mira was formed in 1946 and was mostly government funded . it is based just off the a5 near the junction with the a444 in the parish of higham on the hill also near fenny drayton leicestershire where around five hundred staff work with another establishment in basildon in essex . the company dates back to the foundation of the cycle engineers institute cei in 1898 which became the incorporated institution of automobile engineers iae in 1906 . the iae became the automotive branch of the imeche in 1946 . the iae and the society of motor manufacturers and traders were largely responsible for creating mimr a.hh pooling of expertise edit after world war two the uk car industry was finding it difficult to export to countries where it formerly had little trouble finding markets for its wide range of cars . it was decided by the government to pool the research resources of uk car manufacturers into one site to reduce costs and possibly find new technological advances sooner that could be incorporated into all ranges of uk vehicle makes . the principal auto makers were located in the birmingham area apart from vauxhall which had its factory in luton and ford which by now was located at dagenham to the east of london . 2 the motor industry research institution under its director dr albert fogg who would later become engineering chief at british leyland therefore looked for a location that was reasonably accessible from all these locations and the site near nuneaton fulfilled that criterion . 2 the facilities became available to mira member companies in october 1948 though at this stage the test tracks consisted only of disused runways . 2 they were finally opened on the 28th april 1949 by dr fogg who used explosives to cut the ceremonial tape . 3 facilities were nevertheless developed under dr fogg and professor robert macmillan who took over the directorship from fogg in 1964 . 2 such examples include the half mile belgian pav road used in vehicle tests completed in 1950 . 4 secondary safety edit marking the increasing concern with secondary safety at the time was the opening by the minister of technology tony benn in april 1968 of mira s indoor rig for crash testing cars in head on impacts . 5 such tests at 30 mph 48 km h had recently become mandatory for cars sold in the us . 5 the mira crash rig featured the uk s largest industrial linear motor . 5 it replaced a complicated outdoor system that had involved the victim car s final seconds being controlled by means of a radar operated remote device from a following vehicle . 5 commercial organisation edit since 1975 the funding arrangements for belonging to the organisation went from a membership subscription or levy mostly irrespective of the quantity of work that took place for individual manufacturers for car companies to a fee based system . currently the site has around 110 million of test equipment . on 4 july 2001 the organisation changed its name to mira ltd. at this point it also became liable for corporation tax . it bought the creative automotive design consultancy in march 2003 . the company s turnover has increased 4.9 % to 45.7 m in 2013 producing a 6m surplus which was all reinvested back into itself . on 14 july 2015 mira announced that it was being bought by the japanese owned testing equipment group horiba and changed its name to horiba mira ltd. technology park edit horiba mira is headquartered within the mira technology park a park for automotive research and development . 6 in 2011 the uk government announced that the 850 acre park would become an enterprise zone . 7 companies who have moved into the park include haldex and aston martin . in february 2015 the government announced that the enterprise zone would be expanded . 8 former airfield edit the proving ground which forms the largest area of horiba mira is built on 760 acres 310 ha of the former raf lindley airfield named after the nearby lindley hall farm 9 after the former lindley hall . 10 this farm claims to be the centre of england 11 if calculated by the centre of mass method similar to a centroid . meriden also makes a similar claim . the ashby and nuneaton joint railway used to pass along the south east perimeter of horiba mira and is now the weddington country walk . the line was open to freight until 1971 and had a station at higham on the hill on the perimeter of horiba mira . operations edit horiba mira is a provider of product engineering research testing development and certification to the worldwide transport industry . its work includes crash testing aerodynamic design and vehicle ergonomics . it was developed to provide research for uk companies but now provides engineering consultancy to clients worldwide . references edit 1 a b c d what mira stands for . motor . 10 may 1969 . pp. 75 78 . mira world class vehicle engineering test and development mira . www.mira.co.uk . retrieved 2015 05 04 . mira world class vehicle engineering test and development mira . www.mira.co.uk . retrieved 2015 05 04 . a b c d news new mira test facility . motor . 6 april 1968 . p. 73 . waddington jenny 5 july 2013 . nuneaton based mira reveals impressive year of growth . coventry telegraph . retrieved 9 march 2015 . new enterprise zones announced around england . bbc news online . 17 august 2011 . retrieved 9 march 2015 . waddington jenny 12 february 2015 . nuneaton based mira gets green light to expand technology park . coventry telegraph . retrieved 9 march 2015 . lindley hall farm photo lindley hall at the website of weddington castle . 2008 . retrieved 2011 10 05 . a tale of two centres bbc news 22 october 2002 retrieved 2011 10 05 . external links edit horiba mira ltd website coordinates 52 33 12 n 1 27 51 w 52.55333 n 1.46417 w 52.55333 ; 1.46417 v t e automotive industry in the united kingdom manufacturing in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom companies and marques commercial vehicle producers current alexander dennis plaxton dennis eagle ibc vehicles jcb leyland trucks the london taxi company optare smith electric vehicles stevens wrightbus former albion aec bedford bristol clough smith commer daimler erf foden ford southampton plant guy jensen karrier ldv modec scammell seddon atkinson sentinel shelvoke and drewry straker squire thornycroft tilling stevens motorsport advanced engine research arena motorsport carlin chevron cars cosworth dowdeswell and hardie engine developments ltd. force india ford world rally team fortec hewland ilmor lola cars manor racing marussia f1 mclaren mercedes amg high performance powertrains mercedes amg m sport munchi s prodrive radical red bull racing renault sport f1 team ricardo rml group roger dowson engineering sumo power team dynamics triple eight van diemen williams f1 wirth xtrac zytek motorsport passenger car producers current ariel ascari aston martin bentley crewe plant bmw group mini plant oxford plant swindon rolls royce goodwood plant briggs bristol caparo caterham electric car corporation fenix ford of britain bridgend engine dagenham plant dunton technical centre ginetta honda uk jaguar land rover jaguar land rover daimler castle bromwich plant gaydon centre halewood plant solihull plant whitley engineering centre lagonda lightning lister lotus mclaren mclaren technology centre saic motor uk eco concept mg longbridge plant morgan nissan uk noble peel engineering radical spyker toyota uk vauxhall ellesmere port westfield zenos kit cars caterham davrian gkd gtm jba motors marc nordon racing onyx quantum sylva ultima sports westfield former alvis austin austin healey bmc bmh british leyland mg rover morris riley rootes rover company rover group standard sunbeam triumph wolseley more ... retail and services the aa ats euromaster autoglass auto windscreens british car auctions british vehicle rental and leasing association green flag halfords autocentre halfords kwik fit leaseplan lex autolease national tyres and autocare rac we buy any car dealership groups arnold clark carcraft ford retail group group 1 automotive 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