Enhanced Crashworthiness and Higher Compatibility.

SALIENT project aimed to make roads safer by reducing injuries and fatalities through lighter, circular, and smarter vehicle structures adaptable to diverse crash scenarios. Led by CTAG (Automotive Technology Centre of Galicia, Spain) as general coordinator and the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (United Kingdom) as scientific coordinator, SALIENT a 3-year project funded by the EU's Horizon Europe Programme spanned from September 2022 to August 2023.

Over its three-year duration, the project successfully designed and validated two smart, high-energy-absorption Front-End-Structures (FES) designs capable of adapting to future mixed-traffic environments.

The two FES delivered up to 55% weight reduction, over 94% recyclability, 79% reduction in crash box weight, 21.5% cost savings in manufacturing and 10% faster simulations. Beyond its technical breakthroughs, SALIENT contributes directly to EU policy priorities on road safety, circular economy, and green mobility.

Within a 13-partner consortium from 7 countries, our company was responsible for:

• Defining accident and crash configurations of future vehicles in mixed traffic scenarios.

• Exploring economies of scale for mass production of the prototypes developed.

• Market acceleration and business modelling of the project results.

• Communicating & disseminating the project results.