Brussels, 20 October 2021.
With over 40 years of experience in the automotive and technology industry, PUNCH is a Belgium independent group aiming to bring closer its top-notch technology to society. PUNCH’s technical know-how helps meet climate and environmental goals as well as ensures efficient and sustainable mobility. Consequently, PUNCH will open the doors of their Strasbourg factory to over 80 attendees, including EU representatives, companies, and media, on Wednesday 20 October from 9:30 to 12:30 CEST.
The first part of the TechDay will commence at 9:30 and will be devoted to welcoming attendees and visiting exhibited innovations from the PUNCH Group and its start-ups, including its H2-engine, eAxles, and its hydrogen-powered pickup prototype. At 10:15, the organisers of this event, PUNCH Group, will share their vision for a decarbonised future, followed by some keynote addresses and speeches by Guido Dumarey, Founder and CEO, PUNCH; Jean-Luc Heimburger, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Alsace; Alan Atassi, Chargé de mission restructuration et prevention des entreprises en difficulté, French Department for Economy, Finance, and Recovery and Juan Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation, a leading organisation providing EU funds for innovation and environmental projects. On top of that, Finnova has facilitated NextGeneration funds for PUNCH. After this introduction, attendees will visit the ongoing production focused on Industry 4.0 and other innovative exhibits.
This event, which will coincide with the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, will feature the attendance of EU representatives, including Lina Gálvez, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. The TechDay will also host Mr. Alain Jund, Vice-chair of Mobility and Urban Matters at the Eurométropole of Strasbourg; Sigrid de Vries, Secretary-General at CLEPA, and several other representatives from French and German companies such as Peugeot, Bosch, or Heppner.
European Week of Regions and Cities 2021
PUNCH’s TechDay is framed within the 19th European Week of Regions and Cities 2021 – an initiative endorsed by the Committee of the Regions –, the most important event on regional and urban EU policies where international experts discuss EU cohesion policy. The 2021 programme – ‘Together for Recovery’ – centers on the capacity of the EU and governments to support EU citizens and local communities via practical measures and public policies to invest in a fairer, greener and more digital future as well as to make Europe spearhead the green transition. PUNCH strives to contribute to the EU’s endeavors in sustainable mobility and ecological transition thanks to the partnership of five European regions – Catalonia, Flanders, Piedmont, Grand Est, and Banská Bystrica. The proposal of the PUNCH consortium – a project with European technological cooperation between Turin-Flanders-Catalonia – would create 2,000 jobs in Barcelona and would promote sustainable mobility. PUNCH ensures industrial continuity at Nissan’s Barcelona plants and is the most supported candidacy by trade unions. The objectives of this project are decarbonisation, green transition, sustainable mobility, the maintenance of jobs at the PUNCH factory, the promotion of technology transfer and public-private partnerships and the support and attraction of innovative start-ups around the Hydrogen Automotive Startup Europe Accelerator of the Finnova Foundation.
European Mobility Week
The technologies developed in the Punch project contribute to achieving zero CO2 emissions, one of the global challenges set by the UN and the EU. For this reason, this initiative, which was presented at Esferic Barcelona on 14 September, is also an official event within the framework of the European Mobility Week, an awareness-raising campaign of the European Commission’s DG MOVE aimed at raising public awareness and facilitating a change in habits through the promotion of clean and sustainable urban transport.
PUNCH Group
PUNCH is an independent group with 40 years of experience in the automotive and technology industry, 100% owned by the Belgian Dumarey family. The group employs 1,750 employees in 7 locations across Europe and Asia with an annual turnover of over half a billion Euros.
PUNCH’s portfolio ranges from automatic transmissions and reducers for eAxles (PUNCH Powerglide), engines and control systems (PUNCH Torino), kinetic energy recuperation and storage systems (PUNCH Flybrid), to forged aluminium chassis parts (PUNCH Precision). PUNCH concentrated its existing expertise around hydrogen by creating PUNCH Hydrocells, which targets the development, supply, and integration of hydrogen-based propulsion and energy storage systems, reinforcing the PUNCH group’s commitment to Zero Emission technology. PUNCH’s customer base includes renowned OEMs and automotive suppliers such as General Motors, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, TATA, SAIC, Changan, ZF, and Marelli, to name a few.
About Finnova Foundation
Finnova Foundation is a Spanish-Belgian foundation which finances innovation. Finnova aims to promote public-private cooperation through innovation to address societal challenges such as jobs, training, entrepreneurship, the UN SDGs, and the circular economy, among others. Being committed to innovation, Finnova has been organising the Startup Europe Awards since 2016, an initiative of the European Commission’s DG Connect.
Headquartered in Belgium and Spain, Finnova has its own delegations in Chile and Panama. In Spain, Finnova is present in Valencia, the Basque Country, Andalusia, Madrid and the Canary Islands. www.finnova.eu