Press Releases

In view of enhancing efficiency and sustainability of the transport sector in China, the China National Technical Committee for Automotive Standardization (NTCAS) and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) have organised the Sino-Europe Commercial Vehicle Technology and Regulation Forum, the first-ever high-level forum of its kind, which ended today in Beijing.
Iveco, which has recently signed two important joint ventures in China for production of light and heavy commercial vehicle, participated in the event, focusing upon the role of the European Union and United Nations towards safety improvement of commercial vehicles as well as type-approval procedures.
“To allow all the road actors to assume their responsibility in the market and in the society, the rules and objectives of the regulatory process must be clear, transparent and open to all the interested parties“ said Giovanni Margaria, Technical Regulations manager at the Iveco External Relations & Communication department, in his speech. “Road Safety represents a very special issue – he added - due to social implication, customer sensitivity and product impact, therefore, for these topics, the role of the regulators is vital to the industry". He reported on the current development in the EU as well as in the UN/ECE and pointed out the Iveco strategy to improve vehicle safety and to study advanced safety systems.
The Forum’s progress
At the presence of more than 80 delegates from Institutions and CV industry the European and Chinese truck manufacturers have discussed the mayor challenges that trucks industry have to face. The debate has put in evidence the importance the regulation process, especially concerning the road safety issues.
After the welcome speeches delivered by Mr. Zhao Hang, President of CATARC (China Automotive Technology & Research Center) and by Mr. Dominik Declercq, Chief responsible of the ACEA Office in Beijing, the conference has been opened by Mr. Li Wanli (Director of the Industrial Policies Department of NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission).
The forum provided a vision of NTCAS standardisation work ahead for commercial vehicles in China, indicating the priority areas to reach the final objective to narrow the gap with respect to the Europran regulatory system. The European participants shared their experience with the European regulatory framework and explained the importance of harmonised UN/ECE standards.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA)
ACEA, established in 1991, represents the thirteen major European car, truck and bus manufacturers. All ACEA member companies are key players in the global automotive market. In the European Union, they have integrated automobile operations (research, design, development, production and sales) where they produce around 18 million vehicles per year and provide direct employment to 1.2 million people. ACEA is an overseas member of the newly established Chinese NTCAS Working Group on Commercial Vehicles Standards in China. The main European commercial vehicles makers are DaimlerChrysler, Iveco, MAN, Scania, and Volvo (including Renault Trucks).

Iveco
Iveco designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-road trucks, city and intercity buses and coaches as well as special vehicles for applications such as fire fighting, off-road missions, civil defence and protection.
Iveco employs 32,000 people and runs 43 production units in 18 Countries in the world using excellent technologies developed in 15 research centres. Besides Europe, the company operates in China, Russia, Turkey, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa. More than 4,500 service outlets in over 100 Countries guarantee technical support wherever in the world an Iveco vehicle is at work.
Torino, 12 October 2006