CLEPA Innovation Awards 2017

                        Continental, Flex, Huber+Suhner and NVidia clinch victory in the respective categories and are honoured for ultimate automotive supplier excellence

                                                                                              Brussels, July 3^rd 2017

For the second year in a row CLEPA - the European Association of Automotive Suppliers - organised the “CLEPA Innovation Awards” of which the 2017 top 3 in each category were presented last Thursday night in Rome.

The event, set up in cooperation with Deloitte and in conjunction with the association’s yearly General Assembly meeting, welcomed not less than 150 guests from the key players in the European automotive supply industry.

In line with the 2016 edition, the Innovation Awards 2017 highlight the outstanding achievements made in the European automotive supply industry, celebrating its excellence in the categories of Environment, Safety, Connectivity & Automation and Cooperation (with fellow automotive companies).

For this year, the jury had to evaluate 56 entries from 31 companies and announced the top 3 in the various categories as follows:

ENVIRONMENT

- 1^st ex-aequo: Continental, "48V Belt Starter Generator"

- 1^st ex-aequo: Huber+Suhner, "High Power Charging System"

- 2^nd: Wabco, "AutoTail"

- 3^rd: MCE-5 Development, "VCRi  Variable Compression Ratio technology”

SAFETY

- 1^st: Continental, "Road Condition Observer"

- 2^nd: IEE, "VitaSense"

- 3^rd: Wabco & ZF, "Evasive Manoeuvre Assist for Trucks" and the same with ZF first

CONNECTIVITY & AUTOMATION

- 1^st: Nvidia, "DRIVE PX2"

- 2^nd: Robert Bosch, "Redundant Brake System for Automated Driving"

- 3^rd: Flex, "Smart Gateway Module"

COOPERATION

- 1^st: Flex & Volkswagen, "Smart Gateway Module"

- 2^nd: Wabco & ZF, "Evasive Manoeuvre Assist for trucks"

- 3^rd: Inteva & Mercedes, "Structurally Integrated Panoramic Sliding Roof"

In his speech, CLEPA President, Roberto Vavassori thanked all the participating companies for their entries and focused again on the importance of the European automotive supplier's industry and its non-stop commitment towards driving forward automotive innovation and technology.

“The European Automotive Suppliers are defining the future of mobility. All of the innovations in the road transport sector are invented, developed and manufactured by our industry, in pursuit of  a more sustainable and safer way of moving people and goods.

The constant flow of the sustained investments in R&I activities, more than € 22 billion in 2016, is the best guarantee for our companies’ future both in terms of environmental impact and employment.

Not everybody knows that a modern car has much  more software on board than a large commercial airplane. I am sincerely proud and honoured to lead CLEPA, along with all our colleagues and member companies and associations, on this exciting journey into  unprecedented  and fascinating territory " , said Mr Vavassori.

Sigrid de Vries, CLEPA Secretary General, added: “The Innovation Awards have a great resonance among CLEPA members. I have been really impressed by the passion, know-how and commitment from the participating companies. From my side, I also would like to thank all entrants and hope to have even more applications next year!”

From the 56 entries, the most popular category was Environment (around 50% of the applications); followed by Safety and Connectivity & Automation (around 20% each) and finally Cooperation.

The Jury members were:

• Josef Affenzeller – Secretary General – European Green Vehicles Initiative Association
• Muriel Attané – Secretary General – European Association of Research and Technology Organisations
• Antonio Avenoso – Executive Director – European Transport Safety Council
• Felix Horch – Group Manager – Fraunhofer
• Antonio Perlot – Secretary General – ACEM, The Motorcycle Industry in Europe
• Karl-Oskar Proskawetz – Administrator – Car-2-Car Communication
• Michiel R. Van Ratingen – Secretary General – EuroNCAP
• Margriet van Schijndel-de Nooij – Secretary General – European Automotive Research Partners Association

**Note to Editors

CLEPA is the European Association of Automotive Suppliers. Over 120 of the world's most prominent suppliers for car parts, systems and modules and 24 national trade associations and European sector associations are members of CLEPA, representing 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 €22bn in R&I 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 Chief Global Governmental Affairs, a.distefano@clepa.be, +32.2.743.91.35