A large pool of potential employees for businesses in the automotive industry due to the excellent higher education network

• The worldwide success of “Made in Baden-Württemberg” products, which have been developed and produced in the state and the high level of dynamic innovation in the Baden- Württemberg car industry can be partly explained by the huge effort put into research and development.

• In no other federal state in Germany is more invested in R&D expenditure or on R&D personnel in the area of vehicle manufacture. Companies in Baden-Württemberg spend 40% of the total invested in vehicle manufacture R&D in the whole of Germany and around 37% of all R&D personnel are employed here.

• Baden-Württemberg is Germany‟s most important driving force in terms of innovation: Germany‟s “Car Electronics Innovation Alliance” – a research initiative for car electronics sponsored to the tune of 600 million Euros by BMBF is co-ordinated scientifically by the Research Institute for Motor Transport and Vehicle Engines in Stuttgart (FKFS). With Daimler and Bosch on board, this means that two of the most important businesses in this sector in Baden- Württemberg have a significant involvement in the project.

• Many of the highly-rated research institutes in the state are also involved in projects connected with vehicle construction and traffic. As well as the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) and the research facilities of the DLR in Stuttgart, there are numerous Fraunhofer Institutes and also the Max-Planck Institute for Metal Research in Stuttgart.

• A total of 67 Institutes carry out research and development in branches of the automotive industry.