The 21st VDA QMC Summit for the automotive industry opened today in Berlin. This year's two-day summit is themed "Simplify your Quality." The focus is on solutions for the continuous improvement of the quality of products, processes, and systems within the German automotive industry—particularly in light of evolving and growing challenges. These include geopolitical uncertainties, increasing protectionism, and intensifying international competition. More than a dozen renowned speakers from the German and international automotive industry will present and debate current topics such as artificial intelligence, quality management in defense, technical compliance, and quality assurance in metrology. The summit will emphasize concrete applications and examples from business practice, as well as the exchange of experiences among experts.

The annual VDA QMC Summit is Germany's most important conference on automotive quality management. It is organized by the Quality Management Center (VDA QMC), a department of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). This year, approximately 150 representatives from the German and international automotive industry are participating in the summit.

At the opening of the summit, VDA President Hildegard Müller stated in her keynote address: "The German automotive industry is characterized by its innovative strength and its leadership in technology and quality, making its products so successful and in demand worldwide. We are certain: We want to continue building the most climate-friendly, safest, most efficient, and most digital cars in the world—and quality is the foundation for achieving this."

Müller continued: "Making quality a central aspect of entrepreneurial activity means thinking far beyond product quality and embracing quality in all production and business processes. Furthermore, it means never standing still, but on the contrary, continuously developing and improving processes within the company – and our companies, both manufacturers and suppliers, are capable of this. This is what makes them so strong, this is what makes them so successful worldwide."
"Strong quality management is more important than ever today, because the transformation to climate-neutral and digital mobility demands even greater speed from manufacturers and suppliers in developing new products and bringing them to market. At the same time, significantly stricter international regulatory frameworks, new competitors, and a deteriorating political environment are placing greater demands on companies. To meet these challenges, strong quality management is indispensable. That's why mutual exchange is so important and why meetings like the VDA QMC Summit are so valuable," the VDA President said.