CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, has appointed Sigrid de Vries as Secretary General. Sigrid succeeds Paul Schockmel, who left the organisation last summer. She’ll start in early 2017.

CLEPA President Roberto Vavassori said, “Our new Secretary General brings with her good knowledge of the automotive industry and is well established in the Brussels environment. She comes from a sector association that is, like ours, heavily regulated in terms of technical requirements in challenging fields. Sigrid’s experience as a communicator and coalition builder will help strengthen the role and visibility of the automotive parts and components industry in Europe.”

The President also thanked Amalia Di Stefano, acting CEO since Mr Schockmel’s departure, for her work during the past few challenging months. She will continue covering global governmental affairs and communications as a core member of the CLEPA team.
The association’s technical regulation and policy priorities include the reduction of CO2 emissions post 2020, real driving emissions, access to data and connected and automated driving.

Automotive suppliers actively support the transition to low-emission mobility and strive to realise the potential of connectivity and automation in road transport. European suppliers are leaders in breakthrough innovations which enable vehicles to communicate with each other and the world around them, delivering improved road safety, lower emissions and reduced traffic congestion.

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Note to Editors

About Sigrid de Vries

Sigrid de Vries is a public affairs professional with over 20 years of experience in communications, consultancy and association management. Presently, Sigrid is secretary general of CECE, the European construction equipment manufacturers association. Before that, she was vice-president communications and institutional relations at Iveco and CNH Industrial (EMEA region) and director of communications at ACEA, the European automobile industry association in Brussels.

Previously, Sigrid was a journalist at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and with the Dutch financial daily newspaper, with postings as EU correspondent in Brussels and Germany correspondent in Berlin.

About CLEPA

CLEPA is the European Association of Automotive Suppliers. 120 of the world’s most prominent suppliers for car parts, systems and modules and 23 National trade associations and European sector associations are members of CLEPA, representing an industry with an annual turnover of €600 billion, more than 3 thousand companies, employing more than 5 million people and covering all products and services within the automotive supply chain. Based in Brussels, Belgium, CLEPA is recognised as the natural discussion partner by the European Institutions, United Nations and fellow associations (ACEA, JAMA, MEMA, etc.).

Facts about the European automotive industry

• Some 12 million people are employed in the European automotive industry
• European automotive suppliers directly employ 5 million people
• European automotive suppliers invest €18bn in RDI per year. They are one of the biggest private investors into research and innovation
• Per year, 16 million vehicles are manufactured in Europe, contributing to the stability and growth of the European economy

For more information, please contact:

Mrs Amalia Di Stefano, CLEPA Acting CEO, Tel.: +32 2 743 91 35 www.clepa.eu