Brussels, 5/01/2011 - The European Council for Automotive R&D (EUCAR), representing the major European automobile manufacturers in their common research activities, has confirmed Volvo Car Corporation as a new member. Volvo Car Corporation’s membership officially began on 1st January 2011.

“EUCAR’s members are looking forward to cooperating closely with Volvo Car Corporation and are convinced that their expertise and commitment in research and development will make a valuable contribution to the work of our association” said Pim van der Jagt, Chairman of EUCAR and Managing Director Ford of Europe Research Centre. “We are looking forward to collaborating with the other European automobile manufacturers and contributing to the common research activities of the industry”, said Sven-Erik Svensson, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Volvo Car Corporation. “As a high technology automobile manufacturer and a major investor in R&D, joining EUCAR is a natural step.”

The research and development activities of the European automobile manufacturers are an essential platform for ensuring the future competitiveness of the industry and the continued sustainability of road transport. EUCAR’s members participate in common research activities in the areas of fuels and powertrain, materials and manufacturing, mobility and transport and integrated safety. Their activities include the determination of the common challenges in research, communication of these challenges to EU Institutions and other stakeholders and participation in collaborative projects. In particular EUCAR’s members participate in projects funded by the EU’s Research Framework Programmes, which bring together manufacturers, suppliers, SMEs and research institutions from many Member States to work on collaborative automotive research.

For further information, please contact:
Ø Simon Godwin, Director EUCAR, +32 2 738 73 66, sg@eucar.be
Ø Per-Åke Fröberg, Corporate Spokesman Volvo Car Corporation, +46 31 3257654, pfroberg@volvocars.com

Please also visit: www.eucar.be

Notes to Editors:

About EUCAR

EUCAR is the European Council for Automotive R&D representing the major European passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers. EUCAR facilitates and coordinates pre-competitive research and development projects and its members participate in a wide range of collaborative European R&D programmes. The European automobile manufacturers are the largest private investors in R&D in Europe with over €26 billion investment per annum, or 5% of turnover. EUCAR members are BMW, DAF, Daimler, Fiat, Ford Europe, GM/Opel, Jaguar Land Rover, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Volkswagen Group, AB Volvo and Volvo Car Corporation. EUCAR is closely connected to ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

About Volvo Car Corporation
Volvo Car Corporation designs, develops, manufactures and markets Volvo Cars all over the world. Its research and development mostly takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden and Design Centres – in Gothenburg, Sweden; Barcelona, Spain; Camarillo, California/USA.
The main production currently occurs in Belgium and Sweden. Volvo Car Corporation was founded in Sweden in 1927 and currently employs approximately 21 000 people. Volvo cars are sold in more than 100 countries around the world by roughly 2 300 local dealers.

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