For the second year in a row, CLEPA – the European Association of Automotive Suppliers – organized the “CLEPA Innovation Awards.” The 2017 top three in each category were recognized on June 29 in Rome.
The event, set up in cooperation with Deloitte and in conjunction with the association’s yearly General Assembly meeting, welcomed more than 150 guests from key players in the European automotive supply industry.
In line with the 2016 edition, the Innovation Awards 2017 highlighted 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 three in each category.
ENVIRONMENT
- 1st ex-aequo: Continental, “48V Belt Starter Generator”
- 1st ex-aequo: Huber+Suhner, “High Power Charging System”
- 2nd: WABCO, “AutoTail”
- 3rd: MCE-5 Development, “VCRi Variable Compression Ratio technology”
SAFETY
- 1st: Continental, “Road Condition Observer”
- 2nd: IEE, “VitaSense”
- 3rd: WABCO and ZF, “Evasive Manoeuvre Assist for Trucks” and the same with ZF first
CONNECTIVITY & AUTOMATION
- 1st: NVIDIA, “DRIVE PX2”
- 2nd: Robert Bosch, “Redundant Brake System for Automated Driving”
- 3rd: Flex, “Smart Gateway Module”
COOPERATION
- 1st: Flex and Volkswagen, “Smart Gateway Module”
- 2nd: Wabco and ZF, “Evasive Manoeuvre Assist for trucks”
- 3rd: Inteva and 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 industry and its non-stop commitment toward 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 (approximately $25.13 billion USD) 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 honored to lead CLEPA, along with all our colleagues and member companies and associations, on this exciting journey into unprecedented and fascinating territory,” said 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!”
