On Friday, March 18th, CLEPAmembers, during their Annual General Assembly in Brussels, highlighted Sustainable Mobility as the defining challenge for the automotive industry for the year to come.

To  achieve  this  goal,  CLEPA  has  identified  the  following  priorities:  the  reduction  of  CO2emissions  post  2020,  Gear2030,  Safety,  RDE,  Connectivity,  Automated  Driving,  and  the successful conclusion of TTIP. With this in mind, automotive suppliers will continue to support the transition to Industry 4.0 and the implementation of the Energy Union package.

Mr Roberto Vavassori, CLEPA President, said: “We live in challenging and exciting times and today,  like  never  before,  we  can  decide  and  shape  our  future.  Sustainable mobility is our primary challenge, and to achieve this we need to focus on air quality, safety and digitalisation. The  automation  of  driving  tasks  is  one  of  the  emerging  technical  evolutions  which  will contribute to create jobs, growth and driving innovation globally.”

The European automotive industry faces a number of  disruptive trends  which will  affect  its future  in  the  long  term:  Electrification,  Connectivity,  Autonomous  Driving,  Advanced manufacturing and Advanced materials.

Regarding decarbonisation of transport, automotive suppliers are developing a wide range of technologies for further CO2 reductions post-2020. CLEPA members see additional potential in  increased  efficiency  of  the  internal  combustion  engine  and  increasing  market  shares  of alternative powertrain vehicles.

“Even if a linear continuation of currently demanded reductions will not be possible, automotive suppliers are committed to remaining leaders in CO2 emissions reduction”, highlighted Mr Paul Schockmel, CLEPA CEO.

European  Automotive  suppliers  are  one  of  the  largest  employers  and  investors  in  R&D, spending  more  than  18  billion  euros  each  year,  and  collectively  employing  more  than  five million people.

At the Annual General Assembly, CLEPA also officially welcomed the following new applicant members: FTE  Automotive,  Kautex  Textron,  Maflow,  Varroc  Lighting,  Tokai  Rika,  Toyoda  Gosei, Panasonic and EKK Eagle Industry. The  Polish  Association  of  Automotive  Parts  and  Distributors,  SDCM,  is  also  a  CLEPA newcomer.

CLEPA’s continuing growth in membership brings the current number of corporate members to 116. With Poland, the current number of National trade and European sector associations reaches 23.

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Note to Editors

CLEPA is the European Association of Automotive Suppliers.  116 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 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 Deputy CEO, Tel.: +32 2 743 91 35 www.clepa.eu