Castile and Leon is one of Europe’s most important regions for the automotive sector. There are four automobile manufacturing plants: RENAULT (Valladolid and Palencia), GRUPO FIAT-IVECO (Valladolid) and NISSAN (Avila). The region’s plants are among the most productive in both Europe and Spain, producing 20% of the vehicles manufactured domestically.

This sector is also characterized by incorporating significant levels of innovation and technological development into the production process. Companies in the sector are highly automated and make use of cutting-edge technology and sophisticated quality control systems. The presence of in-house R&D activities is also one of its most noteworthy features.

In the automotive sector, the government of Castile and Leon is developing a Regional Industrial Plan aimed at immediate implementation of a series of specific measures targeting competitiveness in 2009.

The sector features a high level of technological development and innovation in production processes. The companies in the sectors are highly automated, and equipped with state-of-the-art technology and sophisticated quality control systems. They are also renowned for their internal R&D activities. The sector has its own Automotive Research and Development Center (CIDAUT), which is patronized by the main companies, several regional organizations and universities.