The Future: Fast Forward group presents its project to electrify mobility in Spain with 10,000 million euros of investment

The Future: Fast Forward group today presented its country project aimed at electrifying the Spanish automotive industry, driving sustainable mobility and promoting a historic change of direction in the industry.

The event featured opening speeches by María Jesús Montero, Minister of Finance and Public Function, and Wayne Griffiths, President of SEAT S.A., while Marc Riera, President of the Future: Fast Forward group, was in charge of bringing the event to a close after the four panels in which the different projects that will shape the new electric and sustainable mobility were discussed and debated. The event was also attended by various representatives of the public administrations of several autonomous communities, as well as the media and the group’s members, who attended this benchmark event in the industry sector in Spain.

The Minister of Finance and Public Administration said: “We have the technological know-how, the industrial capacity, the business leadership and the support of the public administrations for a shared objective, which is to contribute together to an increasingly sustainable, cleaner and less polluting economy, where electric mobility will play a decisive role”. He also stressed that “this project is a dream come true that demonstrates the strength, resilience and capacity for reinvention of the Spanish automotive sector”.

For his part, the President of SEAT S.A. said during his speech that “2023 is an important year for the electrification of Spain. We are at a key moment and as an industry we have the responsibility to be a transforming lever for the country. And this is what the Future: Fast Forward project we are presenting today is all about”.

The group is going to develop 86 projects in 9 autonomous communities with 52 of its partners, for which an investment of 10 billion euros has been mobilised. Of this total, 7 billion euros come from the Volkswagen Group, SEAT S.A. and PowerHoldco and 3 billion euros from the rest of the partners. Of this sum, 357 million has been provided by the Spanish Government through the Next Generation Resilience and Transformation Funds.

“From Future: Fast Forward we are going to act throughout the entire automotive value chain. We are going to generate an innovative change in today’s industry with a positive social, economic and environmental impact in the future”, said the president of the Future: Fast Forward group, Marc Riera, at the closing of the institutional event. Riera also commented on the purpose of “laying the foundations of a distinctive business collaboration model, capable of adding value, of contributing knowledge, talent and experience, in order to go further”.

Partners discuss the impact of the project 

Through four panels, business leaders from the large companies and SMEs that are part of the grouping have unpacked the details of the impact and scope of this historic opportunity.

The panel entitled “A country project” included Francisco J. Riberas, Executive Chairman of Gestamp; Alfonso Sancha, Executive Vice-President of Purchasing at SEAT S.A.; Marc Riera, Chairman of Future: Fast Forward and Alfonso Sesé, Chairman of Sesé. The speakers explained the potential of Future: Fast Forward as a transformative project not only for the automotive sector, but also for the Spanish economy, as well as the reasons why they have embarked on this revolution in the industry to position Spain as the international hub for electric vehicles.

This was followed by the panel “The path towards the sustainable electrification of Spain”, in which Javier Rivera, CFO of PowerCo Spain; Juan José Marcos, CEO of Ingedetec; Raquel Blanco, Global Director of Smart Mobility at Iberdrola and Joaquín Abril-Martorell, CEO of Phi4Tech Group, reflected on the aim of achieving sustainable mobility, highlighting the importance of having the first battery factory, as well as the raw material we have in the country to be able to promote Spain as a benchmark for electric vehicles.

The third panel was dedicated to SMEs and included Jon Asín, manager and co-founder of BeePlanet Factory; Enrique Vacas, CEO & Business Development director of Nutai; Carlos Pablo Rodríguez y Juan, vice-president of Isend and Mike Hastewell, president of Malena Engineering. They all talked about what it means to them to be part of a project of this magnitude and the importance they have in it, as SMEs represent 59.6% of companies developing projects.

Finally, the panel “New opportunities in employment and training” included José García Gámez, General Director of Órbita Ingeniería; Josep Codina Nogues, CEO of FORMINSA and Mikel Ormazabal, Production Manager of Volkswagen Navarra. They all agreed on the new paradigm that Future: Fast Forward represents for the quality and specialisation of employment in Spain.

The legacy of Future: Fast Forward

The Future: Fast Forward project will not only change mobility as we know it today, but will have a positive impact on many factors such as GDP, maintaining and creating jobs with new qualified profiles, boosting SMEs and also impacting sustainability by reducing the carbon footprint. It also aims to lay the foundations for new models of business collaboration, multiple, transversal and providing value to a common goal to go further, leaving a more competitive country in the face of future challenges.

The president of the group, Marc Riera, finally pointed out that “Future: Fast Forward is the result of more than 50 companies capable of making the future of the automotive industry a reality. But we must be more ambitious and work to strengthen this project and those who can follow it; it is the only way to achieve a transformation that is already unstoppable”.

The capillarity of a country project

After the end of the panels, an interactive area was set up in which spokespersons from the 52 partners with 86 projects were able to explain to the attendees what these actions, which will transform the automotive sector in Spain, consist of. This area was divided into different workshops related to the nine areas of action of the PERTE VEC: the compulsory blocks, (i) original equipment manufacturing and assembly, (ii) battery manufacturing and (iii) manufacturing of other components. The cross-cutting blocks, which include (iv) training; (v) digitisation and (vi) circular economy. Finally, the optional blocks complement the development of the PERTE VEC and address (vii and viii) the manufacturing of VEC components and connectivity and (ix) the manufacturing of charging systems.

Companies in the Future: Fast Forward cluster

Altech, Asai Industrial, AZTERLAN, Balidea, BeePlanet, Bosch, Brose, CARTO, CELSA Group, CETIM, CIDETEC, CSIC, CERLER Global Electronics, CYP, Delta Vigo, ENSO INNOVATION, Feníe Energía, FORMINSA, GCR Group, Gestamp, Glavista, Gonvarri, Sesé, Simoldes, Iberdrola, Intrustial, ILJIN, Ingedetec, Universidad Zaragoza, isEazy, ISEND, Kapture, Kautenik, Kivnon, Lazpiur, Leartiker, Libelium, Lithium Iberia, Malena Engineering, Mindcaps, Mol-Matric, Motorland Aragón, NTDD, NUTAI, Órbita Ingeniería, Pomceg Electronics, POWER Innotech, PowerCo, SEAT CODE, SEAT MÓ, SEAT S.A., Silence, Grupo SPR, Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze SE, Técnicas Reunidas, TECOI, Valeo, VEGA Chargers, Vicomtech, Volkswagen Navarra, WIP y Zylk.

Fast Forward partners

CaixaBank, Eurecat, FICOSA, ITAINNOVA y Telefónica España.

About Future: Fast Forward

Future: Fast Forward is the largest business grouping in the history of the automotive industry in Spain. Following the final resolution of the Ministry of Industry of the PERTE VEC project, 86 projects are being developed in 9 autonomous communities (Catalonia, Community of Madrid, Navarre, Basque Country, Aragon, Castile and Leon, Andalusia, Galicia and Valencia) by 52 partners, of which 59.6% are SMEs. The companies in the cluster have experience, technology, knowledge, innovation, human teams and business capabilities that add value to build the necessary ecosystem to make Spain the hub of reference for electrified and sustainable mobility at international level.

Learn more about Future: Fast Forward www.futurefastforward.es

Future: Fast Forward Press contact:

AGRUPACIÓN FUTURE: FAST FORWARD

• Patricia Constantí Frowein · patricia.constanti@seat.es · +34 679 808 997

KREAB

• Miguel Alba · malba@kreab.com · +34 656 467 512
• Sonia Gil Vera ·  sgil@kreab.com ·  +34 635 186 188
• Ana Cabirta Martín ·  acabirta@kreab.com · +34 691 430 890