Who we are

Clúster de Automoción de Aragón

Today

The Automotive and Mobility Cluster of Aragon (CAAR) is the the referring entity of the automotive and mobility sector in the Region of Aragon. It is made up of industries dedicated to the manufacture of automotive components, as well as other companies directly related to this value chain.

The Automotive and Mobility Cluster of Aragon (CAAR) brings together more than 120 members and brings together an entire automotive and mobility ecosystem that constitutes one of the largest concentrations of industrial capacity, knowledge and talent in southern Europe and employs 26,000 people in a wide range of companies that have an annual turnover of 11,000 million euros, export 35% of what they manufacture, invest 350 million euros each year in R&D and are capable of producing 450,000 vehicles.

The objectives include promoting cooperation and collaboration in projects between Aragon’s automotive companies that optimise the efficiency of their operations, promote R+D and encourage the use of new technologies, as well as improve the management and training of human resources and the competitiveness of their companies.

Hoy

Companies in the sector

millons of € R+D

millions of €

Employees

Our history

Harvard University professor Michael Porter popularized in the article “The competitive advantage of nations” the cluster concept worldwide. As he wrote in 2003, cluster economies increase productivity because they stimulate knowledge, facilitate the presence of specialized suppliers and favor the creation of advanced infrastructures and improving innovation capacity. In addition, they make it possible to quickly capture customer needs and business opportunities and make it possible for information to circulate properly and technology to spread more quickly. They also stimulate the creation of new companies and increase business dynamism.

In Aragon, Porter’s ideas began to materialize in 2007 with the first contacts between the main companies dedicated to the automotive sector. A year later, in 2008, the Aragon Automotive Cluster was born, with the participation of 14 companies from the sector and 6 institutions related to R&D, internationalisation and economic promotion. That same year, the European Commission announced the reorientation of its industrial policies to the attainment of excellent clusters capable of competing at a global level and five years later published the communication “for a European industrial renaissance” in which it indicated them as agents capable of facilitating collaboration between companies from different countries, contributing to innovation and global growth.

Under these premises and within the framework of intelligent specialization, innovation and industry 4.0, in just ten years, CAAR has managed to position itself at the top international level in the automotive sector. As a specialized cluster, CAAR has managed to provide the maximum benefits of collaborative work, promoting cooperation in projects between companies, improving the efficiency of their operations, encouraging R+D and the exploitation of new technologies, improving the management and training of human resources and boosting the productive transformation of our economy to build new competitive advantages, with the aim of generating employment and social welfare.

Milestones

26/03/08 Constitution
2009. National Competitiveness Plan: 20 M € for CAAR members
2010. electric vehicle day and book on national capacities in Green Cars
2011. TECAUTO Fair 2011 (Morocco). TRANS-RM Project (Rapid-Manufactoring)
2012. CAAR obtains the European Bronze Label. BENCHRRHH project.
2013. PSA Mission. Bilbao Subcontracting Fair. CAAR Catalogue
2014. 1st Participation IZB Wolfsburg Trade Fair
2015. CAAR Academy Strategic Training and Launch Plan
2016. First European projects: CARDEMY and TURBOSUDOE / Obtaining the Silver Label
2017. I CAAR and Noche Automoción Awards
2018. Tenth anniversary celebration. 73 members: 66 companies and 7 organisms.
2023. 120 members.

Objectives

According to its founding charter, its objectives are:

To promote cooperation and collaboration in projects between companies of the automotive sector of Aragon optimizing the efficiency of their operations.

To promote the R+D of the automotive sector in Aragon and to promote the exploitation of new technologies.

To improve the management and training of Human Resources.

To improve the competitiveness of its companies.