Peter Stoker started his career in the auto industry in 1983 in what was then the Austin Rover Group, after graduating from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in Polymer Physics. His first positions were in Interior Trim and Hardware development, moving to Project Engineer for Roof, Floor and Trunk trim systems engineering. He then left the Rover group to spend 5 years in the supply base, working at Tudor Webasto sunroof systems, as Project Manager for the Rover group range of roof systems, before moving to IBC Vehicles (part of GM Europe) in Luton in 1992.
Initially responsible for door system engineering, he was assigned to Japan for 3 years as part of the GM Europe / Isuzu liaison team in Fujisawa, assisting on the development and launch of the Opel / Vauxhall Frontera SUV. After his return to the UK in 2000, he went on to project manage the development of the last generation Astra Van derivative, launched in 2006, which was for GME the first virtually developed vehicle derivative without prototypes. Periods of management in various departments followed: Chassis and Mechanical, Advanced Vehicle Development, Special Vehicles and Validation, before becoming head of the Vehicle Engineering group in November 2012.
Following the sale of Millbrook to Rutland Partners in 2013 and then Spectris in 2016, he then became responsible for new technical business for the newly formed Vehicle group at Millbrook as Chief Engineer, encompassing Engineering, Durability, Measurement and Component test and development groups. He has a special interest in connected and automatically-guided vehicles, as well as development of the technical business in Asia, and also sits on various industry groups and special interest forums.
Peter led the successful bid for the UK Government’s Controlled urban CAV testbed, opened in September 2019, and is the host for the Autoair DCMS 5G Transport testbed. He now works as Chief Engineer, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, deploying the connected and automated services into the commercial phase. More recently, he has been appointed as Chair of the EuroNCAP Active Safety Virtual Testing Working Group