Invest in France Agency nordic-countries Office

The Automobile Haut de Gamme cluster is organized around three strategic fields of activity:

• High-end and Sensory Approach    
• Embedded Systems    
• Industrial Excellence and Sustainable Development

Created on the initiative of manufacturers and for companies, specifically small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small and medium industries (SMIs), the cluster brings together laboratories, SME/SMIs and the major groups of western France.

Advantages

The regions have a network of companies and research organizations in the High-End Automobile field, capable of developing new products over a worldwide market.

The Motor Vehicle Sector in the cluster’s regions
Companies
Nearly 900 companies, of which 700 are companies with fewer than 50 employees

Jobs
Nearly 90,000 jobs over the three regions covered by the cluster    

Turnover
9.5 billion Euros (excluding PSA Peugeot Citroën)

Partnerships with the 3 other French clusters dedicated to automobiles: Mov’éo, Mobilité et Transports Avancés, and Véhicule du Futur.

Partners

Over 100 partners of the cluster:

Companies: 59, including 33 SMEs   
• French groups: PSA Peugeot Citroën, Clemessy, Inergy Automotive Systems, Sanden Manufacturing Europe, Faurecia, Fapronic, Valéo, Sojadis etc.
• International groups: Arcelor Mittal (Dutch company), Engel Equipement (United States), Cooper Standard Automotive (United States), Siemens VDO Automotive, Mann et Hummel (Germany), Trelleborg (Sweden) etc.

Research and Training Centers

39 centres which include the University of Nantes, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Bretagne International, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (ENS), Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Ingénieurs des Etudes et techniques d’Armement (ENSIETA), Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécoms Bretagne (ENST), Polytech-Nantes, Institut d’Electronique et des Télécommunications de Rennes (IETR) etc.

Other organizations are also partners of the cluster, including the Brittany, Loire Valley and Poitou-Charentes Regions, Institut Supérieur des Technologies de l’Automobile (ISTA), Institut de l’Automobile du Mans, AUTEO, Société des Ingénieurs de l’Automobile (SIA) etc.  

Current R&D Partnerships

6 projects accredited in 2006 for a total budget of over 20 million euros.

The public players, namely the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, the Fonds Unique Interministériel, and the Local Councils, have contributed 9 million euros in financing for projects this year.

In 2007 the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) contributed nearly 2 million euros in financing for 2 projects.

In 2.5 years of activity, the cluster has had 14 projects accredited amounting to nearly 44 million euros, for which over 20 million euros of financing have been obtained.

International Partnerships

The “Automobile Haut de Gamme” cluster has set up an international strategy in partnership with the other 3 motor vehicle clusters.  The principal objectives are to:

•    Ensure the visibility and international promotion of skills:
•    Surrounding the Strategic Fields of Activity of the 4 sectors and the needs of the cluster’s members
•    Through active participation in missions, conferences and shows that are internationally renowned
•    Through projects developed on the territory, enabling targeted territorial marketing.
•    Support the SMEs/laboratories involved in the cluster projects to promote their skills through innovation.
•    Develop relations with other European clusters to expand the cluster’s network of skills and initiate collaborative R&D projects
•    Participate in operations initiated by the cluster’s partners (members and financers) in accord with the strategy of the clusters.

These partnerships in 2007-2008 enabled the cluster to:
•    Participate in 22 events of an international scale
•    Support 77 structures
•    Initiate 14 relationships with foreign clusters

Some examples:
Turkey:
Organization of mission in France in November 2008 with the Turkish Equipment Manufacturers’ Federation
Japan:
Participation in the JAEE show in 2008 and 2009
Germany:
Organization of a mission with the German clusters around the Automechanika show
Quebec:
Meeting with the top niche markets to follow-up on exchanges in 2008 with ITS Bretagne
Spain:
Development of a partnership with the Vigo CEAGA cluster

Appendix: Examples of Accredited R&D Projects

• More information on the Automobile Haut de Gamme cluster