CLEPA supports automotive technologies against road accidents

CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers gives its firm support to the FIA’s Action for Road Safety. The campaign of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile has been launched in May 2011, in response to the challenges raised by the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. The goal of the Action is to prevent five million deaths and countless serious injuries on roads around the world over the next ten years.
In 2011, in Europe the number recorded accidents reached 1.1 million in total.
CLEPA reminds that the automotive suppliers invest € 15 Billion per year in R&D and produce by far most of the equipment that saves lives. These include, among others, systems for electronic stability control, collision warning, emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring and adaptive headlights. The association supports as well the implementation of the life-saving eCall system being fitted in all new models of cars and light duty vehicles from 2015.
Jean-Marc Gales, CLEPA CEO says : “It is difficult to accept the figures associated with road deaths and injuries when effective safety technologies are available at affordable prices.”

1984 Subaru Hatch

2013 Flex Country Squire Sport Activity Coupe

The Flex Country Squire's woody heritage is recalled on the new Coupe in two ways. Brushed stainless steel trim strips on the body sides remind one of the famous "yacht" paneling, and the electronically assisted liftgate is adorned with a hefty and artful slab of actual American Walnut, beveled and embossed, highly varnished, and waterproofed. Click on image to enlarge. They can be further enlarged by right-clicking on "View Image" or by saving to your hard drive.

Paying respects to the original 1951 Ford Country Squire, the marque's first use of that iconic name, this completely contemporary Sport Activity Coupe is a 2-door wagon just like that '51. Prominently featured is a forward angled "basket handle" C pillar, a nod to the Crown Victoria coupe of '55-'56, the '77-79 Thunderbird and the early '80s Fairmont Futura sport coupes. And yes, I said "C pillar." Just behind the long single side doors are small triangular windows, shades of vintage Thunderbirds, which slide electronically into the pillar when the doors are opened, creating the first, true, pillarless coupe from Ford in decades.

The standard Flex's severely vertical roof pillars were ditched, along with the third row of seating. With the slanting and aerodynamic roofline, the interior has been reconfigured for only four people. Twin rear bucket seats were moved back and closer together, taking advantage of the space formerly reserved for the third row. The rear side panels have "wraparound" sections leading to the rear buckets, and with the full length central console, giving the rear seat the comfort and glamour of Ford's 1960s Thunderbirds.

1958 Ford Ranchero

1975 Dodge Sportsman

My First Car

My first car was a read beater: a 1981 Honda Prelude that had been totaled out twice before. It was three different colors and shook like crazy once it got above 50 miles per hour. The dash lights didn't work, which meant driving at night I would have to estimate my speed. The cassette player ate any tapes you would put it in. The car had been owned by a smoker before, which meant if the lavish sheepskin-covered seats got wet, they would reek like an ashtray. Even better, the turn signal stalk hung by wires from the steering column, meaning I would have to pick it up, insert it into the steering column at just the right angle, and then hold it in place until I had finished signaling a turn.

I don't have a picture of my first car, but at the time I hated it so much I wanted to forget all about it. Looking back on it, I never had to worry about girls liking me because they wanted to be seen riding in a flashy car. I never had to worry about locking the thing, either. Sure, so traveling on the freeway wasn't fun in the car, but I didn't go on the freeway very often anyway. I wouldn't want to own the car again, but it was good for the stage of life I was in at the time.

Top speakers already confirmed at CESA 2012

The congress will welcome top executives from OEMs and suppliers. At this point, CESA 2012 is delighted to announce the presence of :
Christophe PERILLAT, chief operating officer at Valeo on automotive electronics in general
Marc DUVAL-DESTIN, R&D Director at PSA on new mobility (picture)
Beatrice FOUCHER-SYBORD from Renault on Electric Mobility
Liam BRESLIN for the European Commission
Wolfgang RUNGE, ex-CEO of ZF and chairman of Baden-Baden conference on automotive electronics
Pierre GATTAZ, CEO of Radial and President of the French federation for electronics industry (FIEEC) Joachim MATTHES from Valeo on Driver Assistance
Heinz PFANNSCHMIDT, ex CEO of Honsel and ex-VP of Visteon as representative for Roland Berger on electric mobility in Germany
Laurent MALIER, CEO of CEA-LETI on new technologies in power electronics
Hans-Georg FRISCHKORN, ESG and ex-VP Electronics at GM and BMW on consequences from mobility needs on technical solutions
Other speakers from BMW, Nissan, Continental, CLEPA, BIPE, Ademe and Orange are also announced. CESA 2012 is a very promising edition...

1956 Packard Patrician

1971 VW Transporter Pickup

1976 Datsun 710

1982 Toyota Cressida Wagon

Deadline is May 29 th for call for papers

CESA 2012 reminds that the submission for abstracts is opened until May 29th.
At this point, the congress has already confirmation of more than 60 participants for key-notes and round table discussions including representatives from the automotive industry and adjacent industries such as electronics in general, railway, communication, city representatives and market research organizations from Europe, France, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.
This year, the top level roundtable discussion format will be enhanced by more in depth sessions, detailed presentations and discussions of technical papers. CESA will be held on December 4th and 5th in Paris with the support of the PFA and Automotive Clusters. It's the most important automotive electronics conference in France.

Link : http://www.sia.fr/evenement_detail_cesa_2nd_edition_important_information_1128.htm

1989 LaForza 5 Liter

1984 Peugeot 505S

1986 Chrysler Town and Country Wagon

1968 Buick Electra 225

PFA : a task force for the french automotive industry

In french, PFA stands for Plateforme de la Filière Automobile (Automotive Industry Platform). This organisation has been created in 2009, in order to facilitate the relationship between OEMs and suppliers and to prepare the migration towards a more efficient industry.

Headed by former Michelin chairman, Michel Rollier, the PFA has several working groups.

In a recent report, transmitted to public authorities, the organisation has listed 5 top priorities :
- To move towards a mobility focused industry with a new R&D tool (which is VeDeCom Institute, a place dedicated to software development, energy management, automated driving)
- To prepare the factory of the future, more flexible in order to meet requirements for a much more segmented demand
- To better share the "high tech best cost" vision, in order to improve France's competitiveness with Techno Parcs and clusters
- To have clear priority roadmaps for R&D with a better coordination at the national level
- To reshape the R&D eco system with a simplified access and an efficient financing

Link (in french) : http://www.fiev.fr/mediatek_store/pdf/csf_groupe_r_rapport_final2_27_02_2012.pdf
PFA website : https://www.pfa-auto.fr/

1975 Toyota Truck SR-5

1969 VW (Rolls-Royce) Beetle