Williams Advanced Engineering has announced a collaboration with Vilakone Oy, part of the Wihuri Group, to develop Wille machinery.

Vilakone Oy is Northern Europe's largest manufacturer of environmental management machinery such as leaf collectors, snow ploughs and city sweepers. A total of more than 6,000 Wille multi-function machines have been sold so far with its main markets in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia and North America. The product development of Wille multi-function machines has always been ahead of its time since their launch in 1983. The cooperation agreement between Vilakone and Williams Advanced Engineering will ensure that the product development of Wille multi-function machines will continue to be class-leading for years to come.

Williams Advanced Engineering will be working with Vilakone Oy to create a new zero emission multi-function machine based on the existing Wille 665 platform. Williams Advanced Engineering is a leading player in the hybridisation and electrification of vehicles, with recent projects including the design and manufacture of the Jaguar C-X75 hybrid supercar, a fully electric demonstrator vehicle for Aston Martin, and the supply of the batteries that power the cars in Formula E - the world's first fully electric racing series.

Wihuri has been sponsoring Williams's racing driver Valtteri Bottas for more than a decade and, since 2013, has been an official partner of Williams Martini Racing Cooperation in the product development of Wille machinery further enhances the collaboration between the two parties.

Speaking about the agreement Pertti Rekonen, Technical Trade Director for Vilakone Oy, said; "Williams Advanced Engineering gives us access to the world's best know how and engineering competence to be used in the product development of the next generation Wille machinery."

Paul McNamara, Technical Director for Williams Advanced Engineering, added; "Williams Advanced Engineering specialises in working with clients to create new products that are more energy efficient than what has gone before, but crucially do not compromise on style or performance. Williams has worked closely with Wihuri for a number of years on marketing campaigns, and this is now extending into technology collaboration. With a major city like Helsinki setting out a zero emission strategy for the future, having a zero emission product will be a big asset for Vilakone and we will be using our expertise in vehicle electrification and batteries to help them create a tough multi-purpose machine that has sector leading energy efficiency ratings."