Frankfurt am Main, 13 - 23 September 2007, Hall 6.1  Stand C16

The automotive industry represented at the 62^nd IAA demonstrates to be very lively, driven mainly by the challenge of climate protection and sustainable mobility, as well as by the increased presence of Asian vehicle manufacturers

Cobra picked up the two challenges, designing environment friendly devices and setting up in Beijing (China) a twin site to the one operating in Italy, that will serve the markets in the Asia Pacific area, responding to the increasing need of solutions  foreseen in the steeply rising automotive sector. Furthermore, Cobra (Beijing) Automotive Technologies will coordinate business activities with local partners in Asia.

Cobra localised its operations and expertise in order to be closer to the Chinese JV of the major Asian and European vehicle manufacturers who are already its partners in Europe and Japan., and is also addressing the leading Chinese vehicle manufacturers, offering them value generated from  more than 30 years experience in developing customised security solutions.

In 2006, in Western as well as in Eastern Europe 19 million cars have been bought, from 50,3 millions all over the world in the same year. Germany, with her 5,3 million cars sold last year is the European country that reported the higher number of sales[1].

Planning the reduction of risks linked to car crimes is the core business of Cobra Automotive Technologies. Security needs are constantly evolving, and being able to read and interpret the relevant data with the accuracy required by automotive standards is extremely important.

In the current historical context and referring to vehicle crime, the modus operandi of criminal organisations has evolved in these recent years. Since most of the vehicles are equipped with security features, new worrying methods such as car jacking and home jacking are becoming more and more common.

Furthermore, although the overall number of thefts is decreasing mainly in Western Europe, the incidence of organised international vehicle crime trafficking and the number of not recovered cars is on the increase.

According to Europol[2], a theft of 1 top of the range car can generate a net profit of 15,000 €. It is estimated that 450,000 stolen vehicles are trafficked from the European Union annually. Taking into account the disappearance of about 450,000 cars in 2005 with an average value of 15,000 €, the criminal profit is estimated at 6.75 billion €.

Attending the most important motor shows taking place in Frankfurt, Milan, Paris and Shanghai, Cobra confirms its ability to reduce the criminal profit to the advantage of drivers, insurance and leasing companies.

Cobra has developed solutions and services for managing critical events based on GSM, GPS and Internet technologies. The remote connection with the vehicle , in real-time, offers the opportunity to develop customized security services based on customer’s needs, and allows the recovery of the vehicle all over Europe.

The system is equipped with a user friendly interface, reliable in its functionalities. The complex infrastructure is supported by high-level technological partners. In order to realize this project and to significantly extend her competence, Cobra has settled a working group at Sophia Antipolis, the French telecom village, establishing the company Nexo SA.

CobraConnex is the name of the geolocalization system by Cobra, listed in the stringent Cat 5 of Thatcham, the British independent research centre, internationally leading for the definition of criteria and rules for the production and the use of vehicle security systems.

Up to June the 30^th 2007, the number of cumulated subscribers has exceeded 106 thousand, also thanks to the acquisition of leading European companies managing location based services.

In 2005 Porsche AG has chosen Cobra Automotive Technologies to launch a pan-European programme for a vehicle tracking system as a security solution for her customers. Monitoring and recovering  will be services extended up to 28 countries. Thanks to this choice Porsche and the olther  aims to drastically reduce risks on all its circulating cars.

Porsche’s choice and has been followed at a local level by other leading vehicle manufacturers like Audi, Bentley, Ferrari, Ford, Hummer, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Renault .

Cobra is also the European leader in offering electronical solutions for the protection of vehicles. In the last two years Cobra has designed a new generation of anti-theft systems that interact with the on-board electronics, having increased the reliability of the systems and made the fitting easier.

These solutions guarantee an excellent prevention against the theft of cars and accessories. An alarming data concerning the increase of theft from cars has been recently published by Auto Bild, the popular German magazine: 400 thousand thefts of car radio, tires and luggage have been recorded for 2005 in Germany[3].

Furthermore, Cobra has launched in the last years evolutionary systems for low speed manoeuvres, the so called parking aid, that many car manufacturers integrate directly on the vehicle.

The first aim of these solutions is to avoid damaging the bumper and therefore reduce the high repairing costs of the car body, though they also prevent accidents that can have extremely serious consequences. A research in the United States reports about these facts. Janette E. Fennell, Founder & President of Kids And Cars has recently declared that in the US, in the years 2002 – 2006, 49.6% of children injured in non crash accidents  were backed over and deadly injured, often by a relative in their own driveway, and often by a larger vehicle such as a van, SUV or pickup truck[4] while reversing.

For Cobra Automotive Technologies, to innovate means to look for solutions aimed at creating value for her customers. This base puts Cobra as a partner at a global level for those who are looking for security and protection of cars and people.

Cobra Automotive Technologies is an Italian company based in Varese, one of the major international operators in the field of security solutions for the automotive market.Cobra designs and manufactures electronic systems, and provides location based services for the management of risks associated to vehicles, including theft, hi-jack and/or low speed manoeuvres. It provides Stolen Vehicle recovery services at a pan-European level for Audi, Bentley, Ferrari, Ford, Hummer, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Renault. Founded in 1975, Cobra is partner to the main European and Asian car and motorbike manufacturers, for whom it develops solutions integrated in the original equipment, and it has a network in the European and Asian market of about 40 local commercial partners.

Cobra has direct operations in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, UK,  Japan and in China, and it designs and produces electronic systems at the company’s facility in Varese, Italy, while at the facility in Sophia Antipolis, France, the software applications for providing location based services are developed.

Cobra was listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, STAR segment, on December 12, 2006.

The group's turnover in 2006 totalled 90 million euro, increased by 18,8% compared with the previous year.