Today the conventional car is facing a transition that will change the face of the solutions provided in the future for personal transportation across the world. Several important factors are responsible for this evolution in the global scenario. In particular a race is underway to reduce the dependency on traditional fossil fuels and the impact on environment.

Furthermore, a rapid change is taking place regarding how customers view the vehicles they will choose to purchase in future and their intended purpose.

On the political front, a balanced compromise is being sought between energy availability and the respect of the environment on one side with the need to ensure and promote the competitiveness of European industry while facilitating mobility and goods transportation on the other. Governments across the world are promoting initiatives that promise to change radically the automotive sector. Schemes to promote the exploitation of alternative and renewable sources of energy, together with legislative pressure on vehicle manufacturers to reduce the size and weight of cars, will also significantly influence the solutions which will be proposed by vehicle manufacturers.

In such a changing scenario, customer demands and responses are of fundamental relevance particularly since new solutions offered must be ‘bought into'immediately in order to make them viable. At the same time, consumers' perspectives are evolving rapidly, giving rise to new demands in terms of vehicle characteristics and performance requirements.

In this context car designers and manufacturers must address issues which represent both a significant challenge and interesting opportunity: How to best face these issues is the main focus of this event.

The technical sessions will address how the automotive world is evolving with respect to ecological and economical sustainability, translating into the urgent need for significant vehicle weight reduction through the use of new materials and optimization of the structures which need to be adapted, modified or completely re-designed in relation to the adoption of the alternative propulsion systems and fuels.

Additional presentations will focus also on other vehicles types which form part of the inter-modal transportation systems for extended mobility.