Automotive

The Neckar-Alb region is located in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, a.k.a. “Car Country”. Here, about 200 companies and 26,000 employees play their part in the region’s automotive value chain. Hardly any other region in Europe can claim to have as many engineers and technicians as Baden-Württemberg. The automotive and automation industries, each of which are deeply rooted in the the region, particularly profit from this wealth of knowledge.

Global competition, ever-shorter product cycles, and the development of new technologies present major challenges to today’s automotive industry. In the Neckar-Alb region, the competitiveness of local companies is strengthened by partnerships within the automotive cluster, where car manufacturers and automotive suppliers spur each other on to become better and better. As an ideal automotive site, the Neckar-Alb region also profits from close cooperation with other local clusters, especially in the areas of technical textiles and mechanical engineering.

But that’s not all: The industry has also shown it can think outside of the box by creating the statewide network "automotive bw", comprising eight regional automotive networks. The Reutlingen Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s automotive network represent the Neckar-Alb region within this network. Under this common umbrella organization, automotive companies and suppliers are able to build relationships across the state, with each member making a concentrated effort to work with each other more closely.

The region also supplements the industry with plenty of young talent: In addition to company-based training, the University of Reutlingen and Albstadt-Sigmaringen University both play a vital role is this process, offering degrees in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, transportation interior design, and systems engineering. Furthermore, the Neckar-Alb region profits from the nearby University of Stuttgart and its degrees in design, production, and automobile technology.

Many famous automotive inventors called the Neckar-Alb region home, perhaps the most influential of which being the great Gottlieb Daimler. As a young engineer, Daimler worked as a designer in the Reutlinger Bruderhaus Werkstätten and went on to meet his future partner, Wilhelm Maybach, during his time in the region.

Thanks to the region’s various research institutions and universities, automotive suppliers like Bosch, Elring-Klinger, Automotive Lighting, Eissmann, Zeltwanger or Schiller need look no further than the area surrounding Reutlingen, Tübingen, and Zollernalb for highly qualified professionals and a friendly environment for innovation. A close proximity to automobile giants like Daimler, Porsche, and Audi makes the "Inventors’ Region" Neckar-Alb an all-round attractive high-tech location.