IMRA Europe was founded on the French Riviera in 1986 as part of an ambitious R&D conception of the AISIN Group “contribute to society by the development of advanced technology unifying Japanese and European knowledge and intelligence”. Its R&D operation was officially launched in 1988. Later in 1999, the UK Research Centre and German Research Office were integrated into IMRA’s organization forming a true European R&D operation network.

The eagerness of the AISIN group to pursue advancement in modern technology is reflected in the role that is assumed by IMRA Europe. Our shared technological ambitions go hand in hand with our commitment to a sustainable development. Improvement in tomorrow’s vehicle technology means not only aiming for higher efficiency but also catering for consumer’s expectation in terms of protection of the environment. State of the art Solar Cell and Fuel Cell designs are only a part of our continuous effort to discover new solutions with the aim of protecting the planet.

The main challenge for our three research sites in France, UK and Germany is to perform R&D activities focusing on three domains essential for the future, in conjunction with other European high-tech research laboratories and companies.

• ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems)
• Electromagnetic domain
• E&E (Energy and Environment)

Our R&D activity is based on the «IMRA EUROPE LONG-TERM PLAN» which is anticipating the future of society and progress of the automotive industry. The recently achieved targets in the last two years (2002-2003) are presented hereafter.

• Technology transfers to client: 3
• Patent applications : 17
• Publications : 12
     (ITS world conference, SAE, etc)

AISIN Group, the 2nd largest car parts manufacturer in Japan, provides a wide range of attractive products of high quality and is aiming to become a worldwide supplier in the automobile industry.

The Group consists of AISIN SEIKI CO., core Company, AISIN AW, AISIN TAKAOKA, AISIN CHEMICAL and another 114 subsidiaries and affiliated companies. It has a workforce of 47 600 and the annual turnover is 1605 billion Yens (EUR 12 billion, 2003 figures).

The Group has several research centres, such as IMRA EUROPE, IMRA AMERICA and IMRA JAPAN. They form its R&D collaboration network who work towards advanced technologies.