Visiting the firm this week to witness the company’s growth plans, wellbeing economy secretary Neil Gray MSP said: “This is a major investment by Allied Vehicles, securing new jobs as it transitions away from petrol and diesel powered vehicles.

“Tackling inequality is a priority for the Scottish Government, and our accessible travel framework commits to ensuring all disabled people can travel with freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity. Our world-leading climate targets also include a commitment to building electric vehicle capacity and infrastructure.

“This latest innovative investment project brings together both aims – to ensure Scotland transitions to net zero, while we build a fair and equal society for everyone.”

Allied employs 630 staff at its Possilpark site in Glasgow and the new research and development project will stimulate the creation of 35 additional jobs, extending sustainable transport markets. This will build on the company’s growth plans, which include the addition of 35 roles to support the company’s expansion and its commitment to providing inclusive mobility solutions.

As a manufacturer and supplier of wheelchair accessible vehicles to Europe, Allied uses its skillset to reengineer vehicles from brands such as Ford, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Citroen to improve transport accessibility for people with mobility issues.

Its products, ranging from wheelchair-accessible cars, people carriers, minibuses, to taxis, cater to diverse customer needs across the UK and continental Europe. Allied is now progressing into the emerging plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles market.

A critical focus of the project is to develop an electronics package for low-emissions taxis, aligning with the requirements of Glasgow’s new low emissions zone.

Managing director of Allied Vehicles Group Peter Facenna said: “Engineering innovation and development are key to our plans to expand our UK and international business activity, by providing first class accessibility solutions for people with severely impaired mobility.

“The advent of hybrid and electric vehicles is great news for the environment but also poses particular challenges in terms of design and accessibility for disabled customers.

“Support from Scottish Enterprise is vital in helping us take forward research and development work required to address these new challenges. It is also key to furthering our growing exports throughout continental Europe.”

Scottish Enterprise chief executive Adrian Gillespie said: “Allied is creating valuable employment and valued sustainable transport mobility options for people across many countries, so Scottish Enterprise is delighted to be supporting the company to diversify its supply chain and increase exports.

“Allied exemplifies the talent, creativity and adaptability of Scottish manufacturers in taking innovative net zero products to international markets.”

Looking forward, Allied aims to develop an adaptation package fully compatible with sustainable transport to align with the phasing out of internal combustion engines in the UK and Europe over the next decade. The project underpins the industry’s transition to net-zero, a crucial move given nearly 27% of total national emissions come from the transport sector.