As vehicle development becomes increasingly integrated across propulsion, software, testing and design, a new industry event focused on chassis and powertrain engineering will launch this October as part of Vehicle Tech Week North America 2026.

The Advanced Chassis & Powertrain Showcase will debut alongside three established exhibitions within a newly unified event framework designed to reflect how modern vehicles are engineered today.

Taking place October 27-29, 2026, at the Vibe Credit Union Showplace in Novi, Michigan, Vehicle Tech Week North America will bring together four co-located exhibitions covering the full vehicle development lifecycle:

• Intelligent Vehicle Expo (previously known as Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo)
• Advanced Chassis & Powertrain Showcase (new launch)
• Automotive Design & In-Cabin Expo (previously known as Automotive Interiors Expo)
• Automotive Testing Expo (the world’s largest and most established event for automotive testing, validation and quality engineering)

The event is expected to attract thousands of OEM engineers, Tier 1 suppliers and technology leaders, creating a single destination for cross-functional collaboration and technical insight.

About Vehicle Tech Week North America 2026

Vehicle Tech Week North America is a new multi-event platform designed to reflect the full complexity of modern vehicle development. By bringing together four co-located exhibitions in one unified framework, the event connects the technologies, teams and disciplines shaping the future of mobility.

From propulsion systems and software-defined vehicles to testing, validation and in-cabin experience, the event provides a comprehensive view of the vehicle ecosystem. Hosted in Novi, Michigan, a region with deep roots in automotive engineering, the event is positioned as a central meeting point for innovation across North America.

A new platform for chassis and powertrain innovation

The Advanced Chassis & Powertrain Showcase has been developed in response to the growing complexity of propulsion and platform engineering. OEMs are now managing internal combustion, hybrid and battery-electric programs in parallel, often across shared vehicle architectures, introducing new challenges around efficiency, cost, thermal management and vehicle dynamics.

Rather than focusing on individual components, the showcase will highlight system-level approaches to vehicle performance and integration. Key technology areas include:

• Battery systems and energy storage
• Electric drivetrains and e‑axles
• Power electronics
• Thermal management
• Braking and suspension systems
• Vehicle dynamics and control
• Simulation and validation technologies

“Chassis and powertrain technologies are at the center of some of the industry’s most complex engineering decisions,” said Peter Massey, commercial director at Vehicle Tech Week organizer UKi Media & Events. “This new showcase creates a dedicated platform for engineers and suppliers to explore how those challenges are being solved at a system level, and how those solutions translate into real-world performance.”

Repositioned, market‑leading events in a single framework

Alongside the launch of the new chassis and powertrain showcase, two established events have evolved to reflect their expanding roles within the vehicle ecosystem.

Intelligent Vehicle Expo highlights the growing impact of software, AI and connected systems across all areas of the vehicle, while Automotive Design & In-Cabin Expo reflects the increasing importance of interior architecture, HMI and user experience.

Together with Automotive Testing Expo, the industry’s leading event for validation, testing and quality engineering, Vehicle Tech Week North America creates a unified environment where traditionally separate disciplines converge.

“Vehicle Tech Week North America reflects how vehicles are engineered today,” added Massey. “It brings together advanced technologies, specialist expertise and real-world application into one connected experience, accelerating collaboration across the entire vehicle development process.”

For more information, and to exhibit or register, visit: https://www.vehicletechweek-northamerica.com/.

For speaker enquiries, please contact Marc LeDuc, senior conference content producer NA, UKi Media & Events (marc.leduc@ukimediaevents.com).

UKi Media & Events, part of CloserStill Media, is pleased to announce an exciting change to how it serves the automotive industry with the launch of Vehicle Tech Week Europe, which will take place on June 23-25, 2026, in Stuttgart, Germany.

Vehicle Tech Week Europe will bring together UKi Media & Events’ flagship automotive brands – Automotive Testing Expo, Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo and Automotive Interiors Expo – under one roof.

While Automotive Testing Expo, Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo and Automotive Interiors Expo will continue to have their own identities, their co-location within Vehicle Tech Week Europe will foster a stronger sense of community and deliver enhanced return on investment for exhibitors and visitors alike.

“As the automotive industry undergoes rapid transformation, the relationships between engineering departments, development teams and business units are becoming increasingly interconnected,” said Peter Massey, commercial director at UKi Media & Events. “Vehicle Tech Week Europe will reflect this shift, creating a collaborative environment where synergies can flourish.

“The decision to unify these events stems from the growing convergence of technologies and disciplines across the vehicle sector,” added Massey. “This integrated format will better serve the evolving needs of the industry and provide a more valuable experience for all participants.”

In addition to serving the core automotive community, Vehicle Tech Week Europe will actively engage parallel markets such as off-road (natural resources and agriculture), commercial transportation and defense – sectors increasingly adopting the technologies showcased by the 400+ exhibitors that will be in attendance in Stuttgart.

A targeted campaign will be launched to attract visitors from these adjacent industries, supported by new content streams and engagement platforms designed to integrate them seamlessly with the automotive audience. This approach will create a richer, more informed community and will provide new growth opportunities for exhibitors.

To facilitate this alignment, Automotive Interiors Expo, originally scheduled for November 2025, will be postponed to June 2026 and incorporated into Vehicle Tech Week Europe. This strategic move ensures that all brands will benefit from the unified platform and maximizes the value delivered to stakeholders.

The move has been endorsed across the industry:

Liam Wilson, ITC concept and development manager at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, commented, “By uniting Automotive Testing, Autonomous Vehicle and Automotive Interiors in one event, Vehicle Tech Week Europe creates a comprehensive platform to experience the full spectrum of innovation driving mobility forward.”

“Vehicle Tech Week Europe offers a compact platform to experience the latest in ADAS testing, validation and simulation technologies,” said Dr Johannes Lauer, lead HIL development engineer at Stellantis. “For validation experts like me, the interdisciplinary exchange is especially valuable.”

“Automotive Testing and Autonomous Vehicle expos have been a great platform of interaction for me for the last few years,” added Anupam Gupta, director of mobility systems at Bosch Global Software Technologies. “I am sure the unified format of Vehicle Tech Week will create a bigger platform for learning and exchange.” 

“We are delighted to see UKi Media & Events bringing together multiple automotive shows under the umbrella of Vehicle Tech Week,” said Marius Dupuis, CEO at ASAM eV. “Combining Automotive Testing Expo and Automotive Interiors Expo is a great idea, as it creates a comprehensive platform that reflects the full spectrum of innovation across the broader mobility landscape and enables industry professionals to engage across disciplines – just like in our core business of standardization: seeing the big picture and bringing the stakeholders together.

“Over the years, our collaboration with UKi Media & Events has been highly productive, enabling both organizations to achieve mutual benefits and deliver value to the industry,” added Dupuis. “We look forward to continuing this partnership and supporting the company’s efforts to foster innovation, networking and knowledge exchange across the mobility sector.”

“The launch of Vehicle Tech Week marks an exciting new chapter for the industry, combining key events into one festival experience,” commented Women Automotive Network director Stephanie May. “The Women Automotive Network has previously collaborated with UKi Media & Events, and we are proud to support this initiative, which will create new opportunities for our global community to engage with the wider mobility sector.”

“Vehicle Tech Week Europe will bring together Automotive Testing, Autonomous Vehicle and Automotive Interiors under one roof, showcasing cutting-edge innovations across the industry,” said Jérôme Monnot, technical product line director and R&D director at Valeo. “I believe this unified format will provide valuable insights and connections for professionals shaping the future of mobility.”

“We have been exhibiting at Automotive Interiors Expo since 2009 and are delighted to be part of Vehicle Tech Week Europe,” said Matthias Scheibner, sales director at Güth & Wolf.

Finally, Erkan Simsek, director of R&D and sales at Oshino Lamps, commented, “We have been exhibiting at Automotive Interiors Expo for 12 years. The return to Stuttgart in June alongside Automotive Testing and Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo makes complete sense and is very much welcomed.”

UKi Media & Events is excited about the opportunities Vehicle Tech Week Europe presents. With more visitors, more exhibitors and more connections, this new format promises to be a transformative event for the vehicle technology community.

A strategic partnership has been announced that will see electric drive units from Punch Powertrain integrated into automated and autonomous electric light commercial vehicle (eLCV) company Cubonic’s PeopleMover and CargoMover eLCV architectures.

Through the partnership, the companies will co-develop the electric LCVs and the sustainable powertrain solution. Punch Powertrain will be responsible for installing the electric drive units into advanced PeopleMover and CargoMover prototypes at Cubonic’s new facility in in Pulheim-Brauweiler, Germany.

The electric LCVs from Cubonic are highly customizable and enable automated and autonomous driving, with “seamless connectivity to customers’ ecosystems”. Cubonic’s modular architecture ensures that the PeopleMover and CargoMover vehicles are well-suited to a wide range of use cases.

“The strategic partnership between Punch Powertrain and Cubonic will enable us to progress the development of our PeopleMover and CargoMover eLCVs at an accelerated pace,” said Günter Butschek, CEO at Cubonic. “With Punch Powertrain, we have found a partner that shares our values of agility, innovation and sustainability and whose expertise will support us in changing the game of last-mile transportation of people and goods with our solutions for years to come.”

“We are excited to join Cubonic as key technology and manufacturing partner to provide our state-of-the-art electric drive units,” added Sébastien Mazoyer, CEO, Punch Powertrain. “This collaboration perfectly aligns with our vision and strategic approach to delivering value to our customers, thanks to our expertise in electric mobility, enabling us to accelerate product introduction time to market. Our team is committed to supporting Cubonic in achieving a differentiated value proposition to its customers. Together, we gear up toward the next level in electric transportation of people and goods.”

Jaguar Land Rover has announced an investment of £15bn (US$18.7bn) into its industrial footprint, vehicle programs, autonomous, artificial intelligence, digital technologies and people skills over the next five-year period, with its Halewood plant transformed into an all-electric production facility. JLR’s next-gen medium-size SUV architecture, the electrified modular architecture (EMA), will now also be pure-electric.

The first of JLR’s next generation medium-size modern SUVs will be an all-electric model under the Range Rover name. The vehicle is scheduled to launch in 2025 and will be constructed at the Halewood site.

While the EMA will now be 100% electric, JLR will retain its flexible modular longitudinal architecture (MLA), which the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are based on, to ensure it can deliver internal combustion-engined, hybrid and battery electric vehicle variants. This will enable JLR to adapt its vehicle portfolio to meet the requirements of varying markets that are moving at different rates to achieve carbon net zero targets.

The OEM has also revealed that the first of three reimagined luxury Jaguars will be a four-door Grand Tourer built in Solihull, UK, with a power output stated to be more than any vehicle produced by JLR to date and a range of up to 700km. The model will be built on its own unique architecture, named JEA.

JLR’s Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton in the UK Midlands – which currently manufactures Ingenium internal combustion engines for the company’s vehicles – will be renamed the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre and will be repurposed to produce electric drive units and battery packs for the OEM’s next generation vehicles.

California-based Gatik, which is developing short-haul, B2B autonomous trucking services, is to collaborate with Cummins on the integration of its autonomous driving system with Cummins’ advanced powertrain solutions across its fleet of medium-duty trucks.

Cummins will utilize its suite of advanced software features to integrate its powertrain solution to enable drive-by-wire (DbW) for Gatik’s medium-duty (Class 6) Isuzu FTR fleet, equipped with the Cummins B6.7 engine. The integration of Gatik’s commercial-grade autonomous technology with Cummins’ powertrain should increase functional safety and enhance the reliability of the autonomous system while improving fuel efficiency and vehicle performance on Gatik’s short-haul, B2B delivery routes.

“Cummins is excited to integrate its powertrain solution with Gatik’s automated driving system,” said Michael Taylor, general manager of global powertrain integration at Cummins. “Cummins powers nearly every type of application globally, so integrating our powertrain with automated driving systems like Gatik’s will allow our customers to choose the newest technologies to meet their needs.”

Test and measurement company Toyo Corporation has announced that a major US automotive manufacturer recently selected its vehicle-in-the-loop simulator (ViLS) to test and validate its next generation of electric and autonomous vehicles.

The ViLS allows automotive engineers to perform a wide variety of vehicle, environmental and road testing under real-world conditions but in a more cost-effective and safer lab-controlled setting. Toyo notes that the ViLS supports the CASE paradigm: ‘Connected’ cars, ‘Autonomous/Automated’ driving, ‘Shared’ and ‘Electric’.

The ViLS incorporates Rototest Energy chassis dynamometers, in addition to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and True Sim, a professional-grade driving simulator co-developed by Toyo and Iwane that features augmented reality functionality.

After a multi-month technical assessment of the ViLS with one of the auto maker’s EVs, the OEM established that it met its current and evolving needs. The auto maker particularly needed dynamometers capable of coping with the high-torque forces generated by EVs and observed that the Rototest system met this requirement.

The company has ordered two complete ViLS systems – the largest-ever order secured by Toyo for the ViLS in terms of value. The customer worked closely with Toyo’s US subsidiary, ToyoTech, through all phases of the procurement cycle. Delivery and deployment of the platforms are expected before the end of the year.

Bo Han, CEO of ToyoTech, commented, “A key to closing this transaction was the proof-of-concept (POC) evaluation that the auto maker took part in with our technology partner, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. As a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the US Department of Energy, ORNL maintains a Toyo-supplied ViLS in DOE’s National Transportation Research Center at ORNL to support such endeavors. During the POC, the auto maker validated requirements and witnessed first-hand the ViLS in operation with its electric vehicle. We are grateful to ORNL for supporting the POC and look forward to assisting with the deployment and commissioning of the ViLS at the customer site.”

WMG at the University of Warwick in the UK, Pektron and JCB have collaborated as part of the Off-Highway Intelligent Power Management (OHIPM) project to develop software for the next generation of intelligent construction machines.

“This collaborative project between JCB, WMG and Pektron has helped to identify and develop future technologies that can improve the efficiency of many off-highway machines,” said Lee Harper, principal engineer at JCB. “The novel technology has shown great promise when tested over a variety of real-world duty cycles.”

The project, which was part-funded by Innovate UK enables the OEM to produce machines which emit fewer CO₂ emissions, while maintaining business performance in an evolving market.

Through analysis of JCB data, the companies were able to establish which parts of the machine fleet could be most effectively optimized through intelligent power solutions. The team at WMG were then able to create the control software to operate intelligent engines with automotive powertrain technology.

This means the system senses when the machine is idle and can make the decision to power down, providing optimal energy efficiency and minimal pollution.

“Being able to extend our control and systems modeling expertise into the off-highway sector and to work with both JCB and Pektron engineers has made this a really exciting and rewarding project to be a part of and one where the research has the potential to deliver real impact for all partners,” added Dr James Marco, hybrid and electric vehicles expert at WMG.

The collaborative project concluded in Summer 2017 and JCB will look to introduce its intelligent machines to the market by 2020.

Drive system development company AVL has agreed a strategic alliance with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. The move will see the companies pool existing activities and carry out joint research in the area of drive and mobility technologies.

“The main purpose of the strategic collaboration between AVL and the KIT is the joint implementation of research projects, as well as the development of innovations and technologies, which will help OEMs meet future challenges,” said Professor Helmut List, CEO at AVL.

In setting up the new Karlsruhe branch, AVL hopes to harness synergies between research and the industrial implementation as well as effectively organizing communication, experience exchange and work supervision.

At the center of the cooperation is a drive for consistent development, validation, optimization and model-based testing methods for powertrain technologies in the context of the complete vehicle, as well as the further development of ADAS.

“The KIT stands for excellent research, outstanding teaching, as well as innovations for the benefit of industry and society,” said Professor Thomas Hirth, vice president for Innovation and International Affairs at the KIT.

“Together with our partner AVL, our aim is to systematically build a bridge between scientific findings and their application in the field of mobility systems.”

Renault has revealed its Zoe e-sport concept based on the all-electric Zoe supermini platform and draws on the company’s three years in the FIA Formula E Championship.

It features a lightweight body structure made of carbon fiber and including the battery, which is 450kg, the car weighs in at just 1,400kg. It produces power close to 466ps and torque of 640Nm, which help the car to accelerate from standstill to 62mph in 3.2 seconds.

“The brief for the Renault Zoe e-sport concept couldn’t have been simpler: it was ‘have fun’. We came up with something midway between a production model and a racing car. It’s perfect for lovers of extreme driving sensations,” said Stéphane Janin, director, concept car design.

“At Renault, we believe that electric cars are capable of addressing the needs of all types of customers, with an emphasis on driving enjoyment. The Renault Zoe e-sport concept is a stunning expression of this,” added Éric Feunteun, director, electric vehicle program.