Romax Plays Leading Role in Changan First UK R&D Centre

Romax Technology is pleased to announce that they will take on a leading role in the development of a brand new R&D Centre for powertrain technology in the UK. The centre, which is holding its opening ceremony today, has been set up by Changan Automobile Group (Changan) and is situated on the same Science and Technology Park as Romax’s headquarters in Nottingham, UK.

Changan has nine production bases and 21 whole vehicle factories in China. With a turnover of around £6 billion in 2009, Changan has ambitions to break into the world’s top ten automotive manufacturers in the coming years. The R&D Centre in Nottingham represents a vital part of this plan. Romax is working with Changan to help the process of setting up their first ever UK R&D Centre.

“After thorough research and consideration, we felt the UK’s advantages in automotive R&D along with its range of industrial capabilities fit well into Changan’s strategy. Also the UK’s openness to work with Changan strongly positioned the UK as the host location for our R& D Centre,” explained Dr Yu Chenglong, Project Leader of the Changan UK R&D Centre. “The East Midlands, in particular, with its central location, availability of strong automotive R&D companies and research institutions within and around this region, and its long-established links with Chongqing, makes it the ideal choice for Changan.”

“Changan UK will be working closely with a number of UK automotive companies including Romax Technology and others. We chose to work with Romax because they are well known for their high quality service, their innovation and for their wide connection to the industry, as well as their convenient and direct help to accelerate the opening progress for Changan UK R&D Center. This will be vital as we look to become the world’s leading automotive OEM.”

Planning for Changan’s transmission development program is already well underway, Romax and Changan are now actively discussing a number of joint transmission engineering projects to be carried out both here in the UK centre and in China.

Romax Technology plays leading role in Changan’s first UK R&D Centre – continued

Changan Group and Romax first began working together in the early 2000’s when their transmission subsidiary first started using Romax’s award winning software, RomaxDesigner, during their transmission design projects. More recent collaborations started again in 2008 when Romax worked together with Changan’s transmission company, Tsingshan, incorporating their advanced technology, through consultancy, advanced software systems and technical training into their transmission design, development and manufacturing processes. This collaboration marked a significant development in the relationship between Romax and the Changan Group.

“I would like to congratulate Changan Group on this momentous occasion, the opening of their first R&D Centre in the UK. Romax is honoured to have been part of this journey with Changan since initial discussions began in July 2009 and I would like to thank Changan for choosing to work with Romax on this exciting project as well as choosing Nottingham as the location for their R&D Centre,” said Mr Graeme Walford, Chief Operating Officer at Romax Technology. “We hope that we can support Changan in establishing relations with other UK automotive companies and that we can help to drive forward developments in automotive technology and build on the research capacity in the UK.”

As Changan announce today the official opening of their UK R&D Centre, this represents the beginning of what promises to be a long-term successful business relationship between the two parties.