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Automobile industry concentrates joint research on mobility, road transport and competitiveness

Brussels, 08/11/2007 - The European automobile industry actively concentrates its research and development activities on sustainable mobility and competitiveness. This message emerged from the EUCAR Conference held today in Brussels. EUCAR, the European Council for Automotive R&D, is the research body of the European automobile manufacturers.

The road transport system faces severe challenges for the future. The demand for mobility and goods transport increases and in many regions, the road network has already reached its capacity. EUCAR initiates and coordinates pre-competitive research activities in four key areas: environment, energy and fuels; road safety; mobility and transport; competitiveness.

“Important results have been delivered in 2007 but, at the same time, new challenges for the future have been identified. We see a need to increase research activity and contributions”, said Lars-Göran Rosengren, Volvo Vice President for innovation and strategy and EUCAR chairman in 2007. “It is vital to have an integrated approach involving the energy and fuel industry, the suppliers, users and vehicle owners, traffic and transport operators, and key authorities at EU and state level.”

Projecting for 2008, the incoming EUCAR chairman Christoph Huss, Senior Vice President for science, traffic and vehicle regulations at BMW, added: “Increasing the collaborative effort of all key stakeholders will allow the automotive industry to both deliver timely results and step-up R&D efforts. Especially renewable energy production and alternative fuels are among the most important research fields for the next decades. Mobility and transport of goods and persons are areas where the automotive industry should further strengthen its engagement, and EUCAR will be used as our common body to do that.”

Collaborative R&D, at an early stage and involving the European automotive manufactures, their industrial partners, academia and authorities at state and EU level, is essential to achieve and enable common solutions and standards. The need for an increasingly collaborative approach was underlined by the involvement, in the EUCAR conference today, of CONCAWE and CLEPA, the research bodies of the oil industry and the automotive suppliers.

Note to the editor: Motor vehicles are the most technologically diverse products in common use. R&D activities have a long-term scope of 10 years and beyond. The following, large-scale market introduction of new findings are typically aligned with the normal development and production cycles of car models in order to sustain cost-effectiveness and affordability. EUCAR projects are funded mainly through public financing, including the existing EU R&D funds, and a matching sum from the industry. The vehicle industry is the largest private investor in R&D with 4% of turnover (Euro 20 billion) allocated annually. EUCAR members are: BMW, DAF, Daimler, Fiat, Ford Europe, Opel, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Volkswagen Group and Volvo. Each year in November, EUCAR arranges a reception evening and conference day in Brussels. The motto for this year’s event was “Collaborative R&D for the Future”.

For further information, please contact Ulf Palmquist, Director EUCAR, +32 475 530 390 or visit http://www.eucar.be and http://www.acea.be

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