The future of the automotive industry will offer new business opportunities for companies in Catalonia

* The Cluster of the Automotive Industry of Catalonia (CIAC) states, in the presentation of the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan, that the component suppliers will be the great promoters of the new developments that the automotive industry will experience.

* In order to face future challenges, such as cyber security or the creation of new qualified professional profiles, the CIAC will transform its work areas and promote its Talent Platform, in addition to 90 universities, to open it to the entire automotive sector.

Barcelona, September 17, 2020. "The future of the automotive sector offers many new business opportunities". This is how clear and optimistic the president of the Cluster of the Automotive Industry of Catalonia (CIAC), Josep Maria Vall, has been. During the presentation of the Strategic Plan made today in online format to the 200 members of the organization.

In spite of the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 and all its economic consequences, Vall described the outlook set forth in the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan as "encouraging", where, among other things, "the industry will have new transformation options thanks to the evolution of its components and the creation of highly qualified professional profiles to occupy workplaces that we are not even capable of imagining.

"The main consequence of all this," says Mr. Valls, "is that component suppliers will be the ones to set the pace for the transformation of the automotive industry by creating new solutions by manufacturers because they incorporate them into their vehicles. When we talk about new profiles "we are referring, for example, to people who will develop Apps only for the sector, as well as professionals who know how to draw conclusions from the large amount of data that a hyperconnected vehicle will provide, including creators of algorithms that allow artificial intelligence to work".

This is just a taste of the future presented by the Strategic Plan 2020-2024 of the CIAC, which speaks of an electric car, autonomous and connected to the infrastructure and its occupants. A future that also passes to develop new lighter materials that increase the safety of this new vehicle.

On the other hand, there are also some challenges such as cyber security. "Connected vehicles allow an almost infinite range of possibilities, but they are not exempt from dangers such as the fact that they can hack-* it. The industry has to face these challenges and look for solutions, even though it is most likely that none of the companies that are currently doing so will be doing so, but rather the new actors that will be part of the new automotive value chain, such as energy companies, software companies or new manufacturers, among others. "Every part of the automobile that we currently know will be transformed," explains Vall.

CIAC evolves its structure
In order to be as well prepared as possible for the future, the CIAC is changing its structure and creating new work areas, in line with the forecast made in its Strategic Plan 2020-2024. Cluster Manager, Josep Nadal, explains the changes, "the CIAC will be formed by 6 areas: Industrial Competitiveness, Training and Talent, Product Innovation, Logistics, New Business Opportunities and Mobility and Sustainability".

But this is not the only change to the organization. According to Navidad, "one of our clearest values is collaboration, an aspect that we consider essential if we want to reach a position of strength in this futuristic photography of the sector". This collaboration will continue to be transformed into innovation projects for the industry, "as we have been doing for years", and will also be reflected in training. "People are the great added value of the automotive industry and that is why we consider it essential to train them", highlights the Cluster Manager.

Along these lines, the CIAC Talent Platform will be extended to 90 universities and training centers, since "without talent, there is no industry". Not only this, but the Marketplace created by the cluster during the confinement, will be opened because any company, beyond the partners, can be part.