World Auto Report - 2008

DRIVENet has published "World Auto Report - 2008", the principal author of which is Max Pemberton. 

To order your copy, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or by calling +44 (0) 1865 48 44 00.

This report provides an in-depth overview of motorisation across the globe and the factors which influence the current and future automotive markets and an analysis of these markets in terms of future potential opportunities.

The evolution of the industry is covered for 48 years of actual development from 1960 to 2007 at the macro regional levels of the More Developed Countries (MDCs) and the Developing Countries (DVCs) as well as the regional levels of Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, North America, Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Furthermore, the state of the automotive industry in 2007 is analysed at the individual country level for 184 countries.  This includes difficult to analyse markets such as those emerging from the former Soviet Union.  In all cases, the data used is considered to be the best available and reasoned assessments have been made where data is limited. Together, these data represent what is considered to be a robust, authoritative and reliable picture of the automotive world in 2007.

To help examine the overall progress of the industry, a short analysis of the past decade is provided.  This includes data on how the world, the MDC region and the DVC region have fared in terms of volume sales, growth of the vehicle parc and the increasing importance of the number of vehicles being scrapped.

The Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre to be part of the UK's Low Carbon Vehicle Trial

The Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre (SVEC) was recently named as part of a winning bid for funding from the Technology Strategy Board for the Low Carbon Vehicle Platform.  In partnership with BMW Group, Scottish and Southern Energy and SEEDA, 40 fully electric Mini E vehicles will be trialled in the Southeast UK using real drivers chosen from the general public.  SVEC will co-ordinate the research activities surrounding the project.  Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected throughout the duration of the trial from the drivers.  The subsqequent data will be analysed and fed into future electric vehicle developments.  To be kept abreast of the latest news, please visit www.mini.co.uk and register to receive periodic updates on the Mini E project.

The following conference may be of interest to our members: 

Sustainable Design - Designing Sustainable Products and Services

15-16 June, 2009

CBI Conference Centre, London

The conference will feature breakout groups and discussion sessions focusing on:

Product design; Service Design; Packaging design; Communications/graphic design.

These specialist sessions will provide more targeted and focused learning, and to allow you to have your say on the current situation and what guidance is needed to improve design processes and procedures.  You will leave this BSI conference with a clearer idea of how sustainable design can be implemented and improved within your organization.

The conference features speakers and case studies from organisations including the Centre for Sustainable Design, the Design Council, Envirowise, the Industry Council for Packaging & the Environment, and Boots UK Limited.

Conference price includes BS 8887-1:2006 Design for manufacture, assembly, disassembly, and end-of-life processing (MADE).  General concepts, process and requirements, worth £158 (Complimentary standard will be distributed at the conference.)

For more information, download the conference brochure or visit www.bsigroup.com/sustainabledesign.

You are entitled to 10% off your conference package! To book, call BSI customer services on +44 (0) 20 8996 9001 and quote reference code CTBCM-COM.

DRIVENet and Oxford Brookes University

We are pleased to announce DRIVENet’s first forum of 2009! 

Our event programme can be downloaded here.

Title: Powertrain and energy sources in future vehicles

Date: April 7^th, 2009

Venue: Wheatley Campus, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford UK 

Come and see the Electric Smart Car and learn about its development!  This event will explore, through a series of presentations, the future of powertrains and energy sources for road vehicles.  The presentations will be given by expert representative speakers from Arup, BERR, Castrol, Mercedes Benz and Pemberton Associates, as well as leading members of the Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre (SVEC). Delegates will have the time to discuss with our panel of speakers, and amongst themselves, the issues presented during the course of the day. Our confirmed speakers are:

• Max Pemberton, Pemberton Associates: Forecast on Future Trends
• Rosemary Albinson, Castrol BP: Ideal Energy Sources
• Geoff Goddard, Oxford Brookes University: Biofuels
• Dick Stimpson, Arup: Electric Vehicles
• Peter Cottrell, BERR: Battery Directive - UK implementation
• Tom Morrison-Jones, for Mercedes Benz: The Smart Electric Drive

Viewing of electric vehicles will also form part of the day. The cost for attendance will be £175 plus VAT. Please note that attendance is free to Gold members of the DRIVENet Network. 

The registration form can be downloaded here.

We look forward to welcoming you at the Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre in Oxford to discuss these important issues affecting the future of the automotive industry!

For any further information on the forum or membership, please feel free to contact one of our team and we will be pleased to answer any queries.