Member Article

Region revs up for automotive conference

Automotive experts from across the world meet in North East England later this month to discuss the industry’s future.

This is the tenth International Automotive Conference (IAC), and is to be held in Sunderland from Tuesday 10 February to Thursday 12 February. The event is organised by Sunderland City Council in partnership with Ultima Media.

Leader of Sunderland City Council, Cllr Paul Watson said: “Sunderland is a key player in the UK’s automotive sector and, given the global economic picture there is going to be much talk about what the future holds for the industry.”

Representatives from Ford Europe, Nissan, Honda, Kia, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and Bentley are speaking during the three-day conference on how European manufacturers compete in a rapidly changing global environment.

Professionals in vehicle logistics, components and manufacture are also speaking to delegates and there are tours of the Nissan factory and suppliers Calsonic Kansei and TRW.

Delegates also get the chance to test a hydrogen car developed by a team of scientists from the University of Sunderland.

Simon Duval Smith, IAC (International Automotive Conference ) conference chair, said: “The UK’s automotive industry is going through challenging times and IAC Sunderland is set to bring all involved in the sector together to share their vision and look at future trends, such as the environment and alternative fuelled vehicles.

“We’re very excited to be able to offer delegates the opportunity to see the HyPower Nissan Almera that has been developed in Sunderland, as well as the chance to have an in-depth tour of the Nissan plant to see each stage of its manufacturing process.”

For more information go to www.iacsunderland.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .