Press Release - AutoLink Wales 2005

Britain's only groundbreaking automotive event bringing companies together to discuss ideas and products for collaboration will be held in Wales in November.

Autolink Wales 2005 will take place at the National Cricket Centre, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on 24 November. A packed programme of activities has been drawn up with the emphasis firmly on giving component suppliers time to meet and discuss ventures, hear of successful case studies and to look over examples of products.

It follows the success of the inaugural event last year which attracted 83 companies and over 100 delegates from automotive component supplier companies in Wales, England, Germany, South Africa, India and Slovakia.

They benefited from talking about projects and exploring business opportunities among themselves and with a dozen major Tier 1 companies who supply vehicle manufacturers around the world.

Car makers are increasingly collaborating such as the joint Peugeot, Citroen and Toyota venture for a new small car which launched last spring. This autumn, Ford and Fiat revealed plans for a baby car.

Now component suppliers are being encouraged to collaborate on new products and systems, and present them to the Tier 1 suppliers and car makers using the latest technologies to design, engineer and transfer data between each other and onto production lines. In the wider sense, collaboration can include aerospace and academic institutions, which have something to share for success.

In today's highly competitive business, finding new customers, improving products, being innovative, cutting costs and reducing waste is of paramount importance and Autolink Wales 2005 will show that collaboration makes sense in all these areas of opportunity.

Autolink Wales 2005 is an initiative of the Welsh Automotive Forum and chief executive Tim Williams said, "Last year's event was an enormous success with a lot of positive feedback from participants and we hope it will become a permanent feature of the international calendar because it opens so many doors to companies.

We have seen what the car makers can achieve and their success can cascade down the supply chain with enormous savings for all those involved. It improves the knowledge, ability and competitiveness of everyone who takes part and it's a win-win opportunity not to be missed."