Mediaroom

CLEPA attended the VDA’s 21^st Technical Congress, that was held in Berlin on March 14 and 15, 2019 and focused on mobility of the future. A total of 700 participants from industry, politics and academia discuss the mobility issues of the future. The main focus was on digitisation, connected and automated driving and urban mobility. Artificial intelligence, data management and cyber security were also covered in plenary sessions. The prevailing topics of recent years have been climate and environmental protection, and therefore also sustainable mobility. This holds true not only for Germany, but also for the rest of Europe.

In the opening keynote speech, Bernhard Mattes, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) informed participants that over the next three years, the German automotive sector will invest 40 billion euros in alternative powertrains. Today it is already the leader in patents on alternative propulsion. One third of all patents in the field of electric mobility and hybrid drive anywhere in the world come from Germany. And during the next three years the germane automotive industry will treble its range of electrified vehicles to around 100. Mattes added that climate-neutral e-fuels could rapidly improve the CO₂ footprint throughout the passenger car and commercial vehicle fleets, and that these potentials should be utilized swiftly. Oliver Wittke, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, emphasized in his keynote speech: “The vehicle industry is facing monumental changes. Climate protection targets and electric mobility, automated driving, and the introduction of new and connected mobility offers will generate great challenges for the sector. However, the German automotive industry has again and again proved its drive for innovation.