February 7, 2020

The European Automotive Cluster (PAE) boosts the automotive industry in the Greater Region

Today, the automotive industry in the Greater Region (Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Lorraine, Luxembourg and Wallonia) and the nearby territories of the Greater Est Region (Alsace, Baden Württemberg, Champagne Ardenne, …) represents:

  • 2 500 companies
  • 450 000 employees
  • Nearly 2 million vehicles produced in the partner zone
  • Several dynamic automotive clusters on the zone with different structure and operating mode

The PAE project – European Automotive Cluster – initiated in July 2018, aims to impulse a new dynamic in the automotive industry in the Greater Region.

SMEs in the automotive sector in this region operate largely within national value chains and are highly dependent on manufacturers and subcontractors located in their own territory. Access to immediately adjacent markets, which would expand their operational base, is made difficult by a lack of markets knowledge and the specificities of products and services, as well as a lack of access to existing networks and difficulties to integrate them.
The challenge of the PAE project is to work with these SMEs and help them conquer new markets in order to expand their operational base.

The cooperation between the actors and the use of synergies between companies from the various areas of the Greater Region will create a leading European Automotive Cluster both in terms of its size (employments, vehicles produced) and its technological level.

Objectives of the PAE Project

PAE is a 3-year project, which began in July 2018 and will end in December 2021. It brings together German, Belgian, French and Luxembourg partners, under the coordination of the CCI Grand-Est:

 


Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund via the Interreg VA Greater Region program, its main objective is to strengthen competitiveness and attractiveness of the Greater Region’s automotive industry through coordinated cross-border actions.

This includes 3 key objectives:

  • Strengthen the presence of SMEs in the Greater Region (Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Wallonia) and adjacent regions (Alsace, Baden Württemberg, Champagne Ardenne, etc.) on foreign markets,
  • improve the competitiveness of companies at the cross-border and international level (support to maintain a technological lead, adaptation of human resource skills to meet the development needs of new mobility and the industry of the future),
  • reinforce cooperation between automotive clusters in the Greater Region, which are important tools for the sustainability of this approach.

To find out more about the PAE project: http://www.pole-auto-europe.eu/en

Contact: Clotilde NADÉ – European Project Manager at Pôle Véhicule du Futur
cn@vehiculedufutur.com

  • Les Pôles de compétitivité
  • Qualiopi - Certification qualité délivrée au titre des actions de formation
  • Member of The European Automotive Cluster Network EACN