Following the success of previous events, the half-day conference will be held in the afternoon of Monday, October 17, 2016 in the Pompadour room of the famous Hotel Le Meurice, a five-star hotel situated in the rue de Rivoli in central Paris.

The conference takes place the day after the Paris motor show ends and will feature key industry speakers from leading OEMs, leading auto leather tanners, suppliers and technical institutes related to the automotive leather supply chain. There will also be a strong focus on the market in Europe. The hotel conference venue is centrally located making it easy for delegates to attend. The lead sponsor of the conference is Stahl.

Confirmed speakers:

  •  Henning Gathmann, Material Development, Leather – Audi AG
  •  Florian Schrey, Director of Design, GST Seton AutoLeather
  •  Valerio Garcia, GTS Leather Team Leader, Faurecia
  •  Speaker TBC, Stahl

More speakers will be announced on the ILM website in the coming weeks.

Bouyant automotive market

Despite a general downturn in the global economy which has impacted the leather industry, the automotive leather segment continues to strive and grow.

In March alone, a number of major international premium brands such as BMW Group, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz posted record monthly production results. Other marquee brands such as VW Group, GM, PSA, Ford and Renault-Nissan also posted strong sales. In Western Europe, car sales rose 5.2% in March 2016 according to industry data based on national registration data and forecasts. New car sales rose to 1.64 million and sales were up 7.7% in the first quarter of the year. With a rise in sales of premium cars and a new generation of lifestyle SUV’s the global increase in the number of new vehicles that include leather is anticipated to increase by a further 100,00 from current levels. This could equate to an extra 300-500,000 hides entering the automotive leather segment in the next year alone.

For further information or to book a delegate place(s) contact Maria Wallace – maria@internationalleathermaker.com Tel: +44 (0)203 735 6538.