Brussels, 26/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the European Investment Bank (EIB) granted a loan of €100 million to the global company Leoni AG for its research work in the area of automotive electrical and electronic distribution systems. By using new materials and production processes, the company aims to help reduce the weight of cars and to gear its product range more strongly to energy-efficient vehicles.
Leoni is one of the world's leading manufacturers of wires, optical fibres, cables and cable systems. In addition, it provides related services for the automobile and other industries. Leoni will focus its research and development activities that are now being co-financed with an EIB loan on new conductor and insulation materials, innovative wiring design solutions (e.g. 3-D wiring) and comprehensive wiring systems. The R&D activities covered by the project will be carried out by the company on its sites in Germany, the United Kingdom, France and, on a smaller scale, in Slovakia. The research project is scheduled to start in the coming year and is expected to be completed in 2016.
At the time of signing the contract, EIB points out that, for the year 2012 alone, it provided €9 billion for investment in the knowledge-based economy, of which €2 billion went to Germany. The bank also underlines that, in coming years, it “will actively step up its involvement in this sector in order to reinforce the EU's long-term economic growth and its competitiveness, particularly on a global level”. (OL/transl.jl)