Light at the end of the tunnel

Praising the merits of the automotive supply industry at the time of a global financial crisis may appear on the face of it to be utterly futile. The automotive market sector is not in the best of health and offers little grounds for optimism. Sales of new cars in Europe fell by 12.3% in April 2009. After the banks, it is clearly the second business sector to be singled out for its share of threatened bankruptcies, restructurings and relocations. Even Belgium as a whole, and Wallonia in particular, with their proud history in the automotive industry, are now affected! This is no secret, and the figures speak for themselves: while Belgium built some 1,291,829 vehicles and exported 1,218,799 in 1994, the country produced no more than 834,403 in 2007 and exported 758,269. The construction of new plants in Central and Eastern Europe is not very reassuring either.

Beyond these gloomy clichés however, it is interesting to observe how businesses and professional associations are reacting, faced with this new challenge. Agoria, a Belgian federation for the technology industry, set itself three new priorities in relation to automobiles: education and training, sustainable development and business finance. Febiac, the Belgian federation for the car and cycle industry, for its part encourages the development of automotive supply business parks, offers 12 concrete initiatives targeting mobility, advocates innovation and creativity, and lobbies politicians to consolidate the car industry’s established position in Belgium.

Mobility, safety, environment

Wallonia very quickly became specialised in the automotive supply industry, for which its geographical situation, qualified workforce and research centres are its major assets. It does not therefore intend to withdraw from a market that is constantly changing, particularly as regards the environment, security and mobility. Walloon subcontractors are aiming to respond to the challenges of new European standards on CO₂ emissions, ever higher targets for reducing road deaths, and mobility faced with exponential growth in traffic.

Concerning the environment, businesses are developing alternative engines, including hybrid versions, and installing trial engines in vehicles, while testing their performance and endurance. One such business manufactures and sells an electronic additional engine casing equipped with custom made connectors for increasing the power and torque of electronic injection turbo-diesel engines by 25 - 35%, while lowering diesel consumption by 10 - 15%. Other businesses offer radio-tracing measurement services and equipment for optimising internal combustion engines and lubricants, such as continuous measurement of engine parts wear, oil consumption and its impact on emissions, oil dilution and ventilation rates of lubricants etc. The analysis of materials behaviour is another string to the bow of Walloon automotive suppliers. One business develops and sells a range of software and offers consultancy services for the multi-scale modelling of multi-phase materials behaviour, such as polymeric (thermoplastic etc.) elastomer and metallic etc. matrix composites used in the automotive sector.

Security is not overlooked. A business from the Liege region is developing crash simulation skills. It has several goals: the modelling and optimisation of safety rails and the improvement of computerised models of vehicles. Another business offers complete automated solutions such as collision detectors.

Regarding mobility, Walloon businesses supply high performance navigation systems and/or voice solutions for enriching user interfaces in a natural and intuitive way.

It is evident therefore that research and development are central priorities for Walloon businesses. Take for example the business which has positioned itself among the three major global actors in the field of carbon nanotubes. Or the partner in 6 European projects as a specialist in prototyping optical measurement instruments with complex parts geometries. As a final example, consider the business specialised in manufacturing composite materials parts for the automotive industry (partitions for commercial vehicles, floors, body extensions over cabs etc., parts for equipping ambulances, police vehicles, etc.).