Chrysler 2010 Annual Report Download - page 48

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(1) Includes capitalized R&D expenditure and R&D charged directly to profit and loss for the year.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
REPORT ON
OPERATIONS
RESEARCH
AND INNOVATION
Promoting sustainable mobility on multiple fronts, Fiat Group’s research and innovation activities are conducted
through Centro Ricerche Fiat (CRF) and Elasis.
Following the demerger of activities from Fiat S.p.A., CRF remained within Fiat Group post Demerger. To
guarantee continued support to Fiat Industrial, a number of researchers working on specific projects were
transferred to Fiat Industrial and service agreements entered into in relation to the contribution to the research
and development activities of individual sectors.
Elasis, whose design and development activities were already coordinated at sector level, recently transferred
its technical activities to the sectors. It retains responsibility for management of the Pomigliano research facility,
which will continue to host resources and laboratories allocated to the sectors.
Development activities are primarily carried out in collaboration with the sectors.
In 2010, expenditure on Research & Development1 totaled approximately €1.9 billion, equivalent to 3.5%
of net revenues for the Group’s Industrial Activities. In total, R&D activities involve some 14,200 specialized
personnel at 113 centers.
CENTRO RICERCHE FIAT (CRF)
Profile
CRF was established in 1978 as the Group’s center of expertise in innovation, research and development.
Now an internationally recognized center of excellence, CRF’s mission is to utilize innovation as a strategic
lever for the Group’s businesses through the development and transfer of innovative content that makes the
Group’s products both competitive and distinctive.
In addition to its principal center in Orbassano (on the outskirts of Turin), CRF has three other centers located
in Bari, Trento and Foggia, and Centro Ricerche Plast-Optica in Udine (which it has controlled since 2002),
a facility focused on advanced research in plastics and optics for automotive lighting systems. In 2010, the
Group Materials Labs was created with laboratories located in Turin, Venaria Reale and Bologna. In addition,
following the merger of CSST S.p.A. into CRF, the Transport Systems Research Center unit was created with
operations in Orbassano (near Turin) and Pomigliano D’Arco (near Naples). With 949 employees, CRF draws
on a broad base of technical skills, as well as a series of state-of-the-art laboratories for testing powertrain
systems and electromagnetic compatibility, conducting NVH analyses and driving simulations, and developing
materials, production processes, opto-electronics and micro-technologies.
CRF has achieved significant results over the years, as demonstrated by the 35 new patent applications
filed in 2010, bringing the total number of patents it holds to approximately 3,200, plus a further 450 patents
currently pending. At the international level, CRF had more than 41 projects approved in 2010 under the EU’s
Seventh Framework Program for 2007-2013, bringing the total of active projects under this Program to 114. Its
status as a well-established European research center together with its recognized know-how and extensive