CRF (headquartered in Orbassano, near Turin) was established in 1978 to serve as a center of expertise for the Group’s innovation and development activities. Recognized internationally as a center of excellence, its mission is to provide a strategic lever for Fiat businesses.
With approximately 1,000 employees, CRF draws on a broad array of technical skills and a series of state of the art laboratories, covering all automotive engineering disciplines. CRF has achieved significant results over the years, with 2,860 patents filed or pending, and a global network of over 1,760 industrial partners, universities and research centers that further strengthen the Center’s innovation strategies, as well as facilitating local implementation of projects and development of specialized know-how.
At the international level, CRF had 19 projects approved in 2011 under the EU’s Seventh Framework Program for 2007-2013, bringing the total active projects under this Program to 133. Its status as a well-established European research center together with its recognized know-how and extensive presence throughout Italy have also led to its participation in public-private partnerships (PPPs) set up to focus public and private research on areas of common interest and on industrial applications both in Italy and at the European level (Green Car Initiative, Factories of the Future, etc.). Particularly active in the area of sustainable mobility, CRF studies innovative mobility solutions through a 360-degree approach encompassing vehicles, components, energy, safety, telematics, innovative materials and related technologies, and mechatronics, as well as innovative concepts in engine technologies, alternative propulsion systems and transmissions.
CRF’s activities are grouped into the following three core areas: environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economicallysustainable competition.