50% of the industrial companies are related to the car sector and its related activities employ around 7% of the population. These are mainly SMEs suppliers specialized in particular processes of production or in technological and specific machinery.

The region is near to and well connected to other main centres in the car sector (Alt Penedès or first crown of the AMB: Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental and Baix Llobregat).

Catalonia has always been a preferential destination for main world car manufacturers to install industrial design centres, and worldwide multinationals with R&D are in fact of great importance in the area.

Among these centres, a distinguished one is Applus IDIADA. A company located in Santa Oliva in the Baix Penedès. It is the biggest engineering service company in the south of Europe specialized in the design, testing, engineering and official approval (homologation) for the international car industry.

It is also noteworthy that the region has got multinationals from the automotive sector like Saint- Gobain, which has been a car glass manufacturer leader for over 80 years.