
Doors & Closures 2026
Multiple functionalities, comfort, safety, and design – that is what doors and closures bring to a vehicle. Taken together, their features and properties very much determine the customer’s impression of the look, feel, usability, and, in fact, also the sound of an automobile (at rest, or, from within, also during use). Doors and closures represent the human-machine-interface of any car when not driving.
With the additional demands on automotive hang-on parts to efficiently integrate high-performance crash structures and to achieve a maximum possible lightweight design, their development remains one of the most challenging and important areas in a vehicle project.
Since 2006, Automotive Circle’s annual international expert conference on Doors and Closures has been at the forefront of monitoring progress and discussing latest developments in this area, addressing questions such as
On November 17/18, Doors and Closures 2026 again aims at presenting latest progress in the development, functionality and production of automotive hang-on parts, gathering its global community of door and closure expert engineers in Bad Nauheim/Germany.
Don’t miss any updates by following our hashtag: #ACDoorsandClosures
We are looking forward to your participation and to meeting you in Bad Nauheim!
Our conference highlights:
Doors & Closures Systems Award
You are part of the jury! This award is bestowed by the Automotive Circle for the most convincing series OEM hang-on part development.
Accompanying Exhibition
Benefit from the exhibition on site, where topic-specific products and services will be displayed!
Technology Clinic
The audience is invited to benchmark the door opening and closing performances for a selection of current vehicles brought to the conference location.
Meet the Speakers
During the breaks, the speakers will be available for individual questions and further discussions.
Conference Agenda
Program to be published in August 2026.
Participants
International OEM Advisory Board
The Automotive Circle and OEM Advisory Board of the Doors and Closures conference, consisting of experts from the following brands and companies:
Stephan Gülich
Audi AG
Erik Braden
BMW Group
Ray Gillis
Ford
Rene Strauss
General Motors Company
Kazutaka Imamura
Honda R&D Co., Ltd.
Stephane Ringenbach
Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH
Toby Davies
Jaguar Land Rover
Jie Zhou
Li Auto
Marcus Merideth
Lucid Motors
Fumio Tejima
Nissan Motors Co., Ltd.
Hengru Guo
Pan Asia Techn. Automotive Center
Sergio De Carvalho
Groupe Renault
Petr Simon
Skoda Auto a.s.
Martin Schumilas
Stellantis
Eraldo Pignata
Stellantis
Tyler Morgan
Stellantis
Olaf Kühn
Volkswagen AG
Become a sponsor or exhibitor
Take advantage of the high coverage of the Automotive Circle and profit from the sponsoring options before and during the events. Show your competence and services, matching the conference subjects, to the numerous car body engineers of international OEM. Thus, you are strengthening your brand awareness in the automotive industry!
Come on board as an exhibitor or sponsor and benefit from this excellent platform to strongly promote your company’s capabilities as a reliable supplier!
Detailed information for various exibition and sponsoring options will follow here soon!
Your contact for exhibition & sponsoring:
If you have any question or want to request additional information on exhibition & sponsoring options, please contact
Ms. Frauke Haentsch
Director Sales
More information
Register now
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