The Prince of Wales was talking to Malcolm Bird, of GKN, the other day, as you do apparently.

His Royal Highness asked Mr Bird how he was going to cope now the UK automotive industry had closed down.

Which just goes to show how ignorant our heir to the throne actually is.

Although this won?t be news to anyone, the belief that the end of Rover meant the end of UK automotive is a view shared by most people in the real world.

The MG Rover collapse has been traumatic but it doesn?t mean the UK auto industry has gone with it.

There are still many Midland automotive firms doing very well, thank you very much.

They may not be technically British - look at Ford?s ownership of Land Rover and Jaguar - but they remain indelibly British in character.

OK, Lotus may be based in Norfolk and owned by Proton, but that doesn?t mean they are going to start putting Malay-sian flags on their products.

Then there?s BMW?s plant at Hams Hall which employs 1,500 and the company?s extremely successful Mini operation down at Cowley.

Even the Prince?s favourite Aston Martins are undergoing a bit of a renaissance, with production rising at its new facility in Gaydon.

Some firms are even exporting to China and India, and it isn?t just the high tech value-added stuff which the industry experts recite like a mantra.

Pressings and forgings are heading east to these countries from the Midlands. You know, that place where manufacturing has supposedly had it. There are other reasons to cheer, and which give us hope about a future for manufacturing.

The more complicated cars become, the more different variants and models produced, the harder it is going to be for the Chinese and the Indians to compete.

With one model of car having 20 different combinations of drive systems throughout the range, the overseas producers are going to find it difficult to produce for them all, to the same exacting standards expected by UK component firms. Even if the Chinese and the Indians do crack this, they still have to ship the stuff over here to where the factories are.

Empty air in container ships cost money, but then so do idle production lines as they wait for their components to arrive just in time, or rather if they are coming several thousands of miles, probably not.

So really, the more complex the cars and derivatives, the better our supply chain will be able to cope, being ever so nimble and fleet of foot as it has learned to be.

It seems even original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) who have applied a relentless downward pressure, squeezing the suppliers till the pips squeak, have also started to recognise this.

Ford says it wants to work with its suppliers in order to drive up standards at Land Rover and Jaguar.

It wants to build up long term relationships with companies to allow them to plan ahead. This is not something new; the Japanese have been doing it for years.

If only we could get a new supply of better informed Royals . . .