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Leading North East automotive names to attend Japanese innovation showcase

North East businesses and agencies will be amongst a British delegation travelling to Japan later this month, as part of a mass gathering of automotive engineers.

The Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers 2016 Annual Congress, set to take place in Pacifico Yokohama, is an event which will showcase innovation in the automotive industry.

A UK delegation of 20 businesses and funding agencies including Innovate UK, the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will promote British innovation on the UK Pavilion at the event on 25 to 27 May.

Newcastle University and Gateshead-based Sevcon, an electric vehicle component manufacturer, will represent the region alongside the North East Automotive Alliance and Make It Sunderland.

The congress is the largest automotive technology conference in Asia for automotive engineers. It attracts 70,000 visitors over three days. Up to 400 Japanese and foreign companies will display their latest designs and technologies.

Simon Edmonds, manufacturing and materials director at Innovate UK, said: “The UK is leading the way in low carbon technology innovation and these 20 companies are testament to this success and the excellent R&D support available in the UK from Innovate UK, the APC and others.

We look forward to highlighting these strengths in Japan, and also our ground-breaking work on connected and autonomous vehicle technologies.“