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Interview Wolfsburg AG CEO, Bernd Wilhelm Technology trends Electric cars, lightweight technology, low-cost cars India Risks and rewards of the Indian market ANE_IZB_03_Editorial-Inhalt.qxd 10/8/08 4:50 PM Page 1

Editorial / Contents

An exhibition far removed from vehicle introductions

hen the International Suppliers Fair (IZB), which to present their expertise to VW’s various brands. Wruns from October 29 through October 31, opens Increasingly, representatives of car manufacturers its doors for the fifth time to a specialized audience, the outside VW have found their way to the fairgrounds. exhibition will have long earned its place as an industri- Indian suppliers are a particular focus this year. al trade fair. The Indian-German Automotive Congress takes The industry gathering has been well served by its po- place a day before the fair begins, in the arena at sitioning conceptually between the major auto shows Wolfsburg AG’s AutoVision Forum. and the in-house fairs organized by car manufacturers. The Congress showcases Indian companies and In Wolfsburg, suppliers are finding a fo- their business activities, which extend all along the rum far away from the dazzling vehicle in- automotive value chain. troductions designed to appeal to the pu- India is already an attractive market for German blic at auto shows around the world. manufacturers and their suppliers, as German pro- The steadily increasing floor space and ducts enjoy a high regard there. But, to some extent, number of exhibitors demonstrate how Indian partner companies still need to catch up in much suppliers like the Wolfsburg gathe- the quality and technology areas. ring. This year’s IZB comes at a particular- So it’s no wonder that Indian suppliers are looking ly challenging time for the industry. With for suitable German joint-venture partners, along the global financial crisis eroding consu- with takeover candidates. Expertise in vehicle elec- mer confidence, car sales have been slum- tronics and safety technology is highly regarded. ping and automakers and suppliers are It’s possible that the IZB concept could be repeated looking for ways to jointly lower costs and elsewhere in the future. Indian executives have in- boost efficiency. quired whether an event similar to Wolfsburg’s Some of those discussions will undoubt- could be held on the subcontinent. edly take place in Wolfsburg. Begun as a European suppliers would then have an interes- Arjen Bongard, kind of Volkswagen in-house fair, the IZB ting platform that could be used to present them- Editor-In-Chief doesn’t just offer suppliers an opportunity selves to the Indian auto industry.

Interview Bernd Wilhelm 4/5 Future electric cars 28/29 IT organization 44 Floor plan 6/7 Financial services 30 Crash-test simulation 46 Top 100 suppliers 8/9 Environmentally Advertisers’ index 47 Warranty costs 10 friendly technologies 32 Seating development 48 Emerging market: Risk management 34 Roof systems 50 India 12–16 Engineering service Driver assistance 52 Car insurance 18 providers 36/37 Women in the industry 54 Bonding techniques 20/21 Low-cost cars 38/39 Software re-engineering 56/57 Investment incentives 22 Standardizing production 40 Run flat tires 58/60 Lightweight materials 24 Car-to-car communication 42 Simulation technology 62

Turbochargers _ 26

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Interview “We want the Premier League”

Bernd Wilhelm, the head of Wolfsburg AG, plans to add a supplier trade fair in India to offer its companies a platform.

he IZB international suppliers oriented topics of energy and the en- cause the product isn’t any good, but Tfair is an important building vironment. Even here, we are embra- rather because they lack business block of Wolfsburg AG’s plan to pro- cing ideas and transforming them know-how. mote the local area. Bernd Wilhelm, into feasible business concepts to the company’s CEO, wants an even promote the formation and location Are other areas interested in what stronger interlocking of various fu- of more businesses here. has been accomplished in Wolfs- ture-oriented fields. Bernd Wil- burg? helm, CEO What successes have you achie- Yes. Our leisure business unit is de- Mr. Wilhelm, as the CEO of of Wolfs- ved so far? veloping entertainment and activity Wolfsburg AG, what do you put burg AG: Since Wolfsburg AG has been in concepts to create family and cross- a value on? His focus is existence, we have had the forma- generation leisure opportunities for We want to fulfill our mission of cre- on seeing tion of more than 380 companies. Wolfsburg residents and tourists. ating jobs in an economically pro- projects About two-thirds of them are still The goal is to boost the area’s quality spering region of Wolfsburg and se- become a around. By contrast, the national of life and recreation. For example, cure its economic power by embra- reality. average is a survival rate of just one we had talks with the Russian city of cing innovations and executing in three. Many of them aren’t disap- Kaluga, which is planning some- them efficiently. The emphasis is on pearing from the thing like what we have done here execution. We put a special value on market be- in Wolfsburg and is involving us in the soundness of the topics, the staff development there. competency and reliability of the partners, and above all sustaina- In our projects, are you aiming for bility. greater dovetailing with corporate research? What are your next steps? Yes, since we are always dealing Transportation, leisure and with automobile functionality. tourism, along with the healthcare industry, are the Where has this already worked in leading business fields that a very concrete way and can you are important to Wolfsburg cite an example for us? and that Wolfsburg AG is In the transportation field, for exam- addressing. Their integration ple. Several years ago, we teamed up has already been highly suc- with partners to initiate the Wolfs- cessful here. But that’s why we burg Region Biomass Center and de- are involved with initiating a new veloped a plan for a new, 2-mega- evolutionary step. For that, we want watt biogas facility with joint bioso- to combine these topics and projects lids drying. The biogas produced in even more strongly together and the facility through fermentation of implement them. This also ap- renewal raw materials, such as plies to the future- plant waste, was trans- formed into current and heat

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Interview

with a block heating station and BIO I Bernd Wilhelm then fed into the public grid. Assuming further processing, you Associated with VW for 35 years can tank up with the biogas as CO2 neutral natural gas. The Wolfsburg Bernd Wilhelm, drain operations use 100 percent of Bernd Wilhelm, 62, has been CEO of Wolfsburg AG since May 2007. the heat resulting from its combus- After studies in mechanical engineering (production technology), tion is for biosolids drying. The he joined Volkswagen, taking on various technical and managerial dried biosolids are a valuable fuel roles at the company’s Salzgitter and Wolfsburg facilities. for the Volkswagen power plant in In 1990, he was assigned the job of managing VW’s corporate produc- Wolfsburg. Since several thousand tion strategy, and became the manager of vehicle assembly at the Tourans configured for gas propul- Wolfsburg factory in 1994. In 1996, he moved to Brussels and became sion are produced each year in technical director at the VW factory there, and he became manager of Wolfsburg, we are checking into an industrial engineering for the VW brand as well as manager of brand initial fill-up of vehicles with biogas logistics for the VW AG. In May 2005, he moved to the company’s from Wolfsburg. Sitech subsidiary, becoming technical managing director and CEO. In this way, Volkswagen would be Wilhelm was awarded his doctorate of engineering in 1979 at the first manufacturer to have pro- Brunswick Technical University. In 2004, he was made an honorary duction vehicles that are powered professor for automobile production. A member of the executive with a CO2-neutral medium. At le- committee of the German Methods Times Measurement associa- ast with regard to an initial fill-up. tion, Wilhelm is also chair of the Friends of IWF, the institute for So that’s an example of the linking machine tools and manufacturing technology at the Brunswick of various themes. You see that Technical University. the slogan, “Business comes from research,” isn’t just a speech bubble for us, but a real mission. hand, we helped a supplier open up we could put on a supplier exchange a new business field. in Pune for the Indian market. The What is IZB’s importance to goal of such an event should be to of- Wolfsburg AG? Do you see more opportunities for fer European suppliers a platform, as IZB has developed into an internatio- IZB’s growth? we do here for Indian companies. In- nal marketplace encompassing the This year, we will be larger than we dian automotive associations are al- entire spectrum of automobile inno- were at our last appearance in 2006. ready backing our possible arrival. vations. It is important for the au- The exhibition area has been expan- We naturally check into the ideas of thentic display of the transportation ded to 33,000 square meters, a 10 this kind very carefully. competency of the region while ope- percent increase. Parallel to that, the ning a window onto the world. More demand for space per exhibitor has Are suppliers based in Wolfsburg than 600 exhibitors from more than grown. For the exhibitors, quality afraid that Indian supplies will 20 nations have a presence, which is and competitiveness are the main force down prices? remarkable for a pure trade fair. criteria for their ability to have a pre- The situation will certainly be wat- We organize other networking sence at the IZB. ched attentively. But competition, events for auto manufacturers and We want the premier league of sup- and I am convinced of this, will suppliers that center on informal pliers here. Fourteen of the 25 strengthen European suppliers. and cross-industry exchanges highest-revenue suppliers globally among companies, in addition to are on site. I think that speaks for it- Could you conceive of other auto- technical information. self. And the response from our part- makers joining VW in such an ner country India is gratifying. We al- event in India? And that works? ready have more than 40 firm com- If that were the case, then we would Yes. Here in Wolfsburg, we had a mitments and still expect some more. make our appearance as the German company founder who developed industry, since Indians see Germany surfboards. At first glance, that had Doesn’t it arouse envy among the as the cradle of the automotive in- nothing whatsoever to do with car local suppliers when you offer In- dustry. manufacturing. But he didn’t have dian companies this kind of fo- anyone to build the boards for him. rum? Have you determined a partner We then got him together with an Yes, we have received requests from country for IZB 2010? auto supplier that had specific ex- companies asking whether we We have decided on the US. The se- pertise in the plastics sector. It now couldn’t help them get a foothold in lection will always be a country makes surf boards at its facility. So, India, for example. Specifically, our where Volkswagen is especially on one hand, we helped a company exhibitors as well as the Indian committed. founder carry out his innovative supplier association and political Interview by Bettina Mayer and Klaus- product idea, and, on the other authorities have asked us whether Dieter Flörecke.

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Floor plan Top addresses in the supplier indus try

India, the event’s partner country, is one of the core themes of the Wolfsburg trade fair.

Klaus-Dieter Flörecke At the same time, Indian compa- ket offers German companies. Automotive News Euorpe nies in Hall 2 are being given the op- Parallel to the fair activities with IZB visitors portunity to use the industrial exhi- their more than 600 exhibitors dis- he fifth edition of the IZB sup- will be given bition as a communication and net- playing innovations in six halls, the Tplier fair, running from Oct- an overview working platform and present them- VDI/VW symposium, “Integrated Sa- ober 19 to 31, 2008, will be accom- of suppliers’ selves to German and global automa- fety and Driver Assistance Systems,” panied by an extensive conference capabilities in kers and suppliers in the process. is taking place in Kongress Park in program. Organized by Wolfsburg six halls. The entire Indian value chain Wolfsburg on October 29 and 30. AG, the trade fair has India as its will be shown at the Indian-German On October 30, “Invest in Germa- partner country this year. Automotive Congress, which takes ny” is arranging its international The IZB wants to give this up- place in the arena at the Wolfsburg business breakfast at the Ritz Carl- and-coming automotive nation a AG’s AutoVision Forum. It will also ton Hotel. In addition, the second forum to demonstrate its future deal with the issues of where the In- day of the fair will function as a so- and growth potential to the global dian auto industry is heading and called job exchange day. automotive industry. what opportunities its vehicle mar- At this activity, job applicants at SchulenburgSchulenburg avenue

IZB area Oebisfelder Strasse 38448 Wolfsburg

VW factory Allerpark

A39

Heinrich-Nordhoff-Strasse

Forum carvision Berliner circle Major-Hirst-Strasse 11 Wolfsburg 38448 Wolfsburg

m Hall 2 (Partner country India)

Hall 1 one-way street (

Café Restaurant

VIP-Parking Main Entrance street e-way on

Parking one-way street

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Floor plan us try on parade at the IZB g trade fair. The industrial exhibition takes place in six halls on 33,000 square meters.

individual stands and the staffs of 3 Hours and prices: IZB trade fair personnel departments can exchan- Hours for professional visitors: Oebisfelder Straße ge information. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., exhibitors: 9 a.m. to 38448 Wolfsburg 7 p.m. Admission prices: Daily 3 More core themes of IZB ticket 15 euros, half-day ticket Forum AutoVision: 2008: (valid as of 1 p.m.) 8 euros, Major-Hirst-Straße 11, Electrical, electronics, mechatro- pupils/students (with identifica- 38442 Wolfsburg nics; joining and bonding technolo- tion) free admission. gy; metal and lightweight construc- 3 Arriving by car: 3Shuttle service: tion/fascination with body; plastics, Visitors can find the direct route VW factory –> IZB –> VW factory interiors, modules, chemical pro- from their home address to the Parking lot –> IZB –> Parking lot ducts; powertrain control, power event site by using the route plan- Rail station –> IZB –> Rail station plant, chassis; development; IT ser- ner www.map24.de. The following vices providers, logistics, produc- addresses can be submitted as the tion; project financing, automotive. destination.

OebisfelderOebisf Strasse• B188 elder Strasse• B188

Allerpark

Hall 4 (Powertrain, research Hall 4a Entrance Hall 3 and development) (Powertrain, research (Electronics, and development) East mechatronics) Parking Technology center Hall 5 (Plastics, chemicals)

Hall 6 (Metal, logistics) estaurant

street Mittelland-Canal e-way on

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Top 100 suppliers Tight race at the top

Bosch continues to be the world’s biggest supplier, but others such as Denso, Magna and Continental are catching up.

here has been a reshuffling fourth position. That will create more movement Tin the ranks of the 10 suppliers A year earlier, the Hanover in the future. If you were to add up with the highest revenues worldwi- firm ranked just twelfth in the lis- the revenues of Continental and de. After its take-over of VDO, ting. Meanwhile, bearing manufac- Schaeffler in the original equip- Siemens’ automobile division, turer Schaeffler has acquired Conti- ment segment, they would have pla- Continental pushed its way into nental. ced third.

Top global OEM parts suppliers, ranked on 2007 global OEM parts sales

Rank Rank Company sales 2007** sales 2006** Products (selection) 2007 2006 (dollars in mn) (dollars in mn) 11Bosch 36.160 29,687 Gasoline and diesel systems, brake and chassis systems; electrical drives, steering systems 22Denso 35,700 28,530 Powertrain control, electric systems; small motors; industrial and environmental systems 33Magna International 25,645 23,883 Interiors, exteriors, body and chassis systems, seats, mirrors, transmissions, drivetrains 412Continental 25,000 * 11,470 Brakes, tires, telematics, driver assistance systems, powertrain electronics, interior modules 54Delphi 22,283 22,737 Mobile electronics and transportation systems, safety, electrical/electronic architecture, 66Aisin Seiki 21,705 * 19,367 * Body systems, brake and chassis systems, electronics, drivetrain and engine components 75Johnson Controls 18,500 19,500 Seat systems, interior electronics, door panels, instrument panels, overhead systems 88Faurecia 17,400 15,000 Seats, cockpits, doors, acoustic packages, front ends, exhaust systems 97Lear 15,995 17,839 Seating, electrical distribution, electronics 10 9 ZF Group 15,100 * 12,800 * Transmissions, steering systems, suspension components, axles, clutches, dampers 11 11 TRW Automotive 13,555 12,162 Steering, suspension, braking and engine components; electronic safety and security 12 10 Valeo 13,290 * 12,700 * Microhybrid systems, electrical and electronic systems, thermal systems, wiper systems 13 20 BASF 11,850 8,188 * Coatings, plastics 14 14 Yazaki 11,308 * 10,583 * Wiring harnesses, connectors, clusters, junction blocks, plug cords 15 15 ThyssenKrupp Technologies 11,075 * 10,207 * Powertrains, suspensions, steering systems, drivetrains, camshafts, crankshafts 16 13 Visteon 10,721 10,706 * Interiors, climate control and electronics/lighting 17 16 Sumitomo Electric 10,241 * 9,200 Electrical distribution systems, electronics, connection systems 18 18 Toyota Boshoku 9,172 9,043 * Seats, door trim, carpet, headliners, oil and air filters, door panels, fabrics and substrates 19 19 Dana 8,721 8,504 Axles, sealing and thermal management products, off-highway vehicle transmissions 20 24 JTEKT 8,685 6,166 Bearings, hub units, steering systems, driveshafts 21 27 Hitachi Automotive Systems 7,600 * 5,478 Engine management, electric powertrain, drive control and car information systems 22 21 Schaeffler-Group 7,364 * 6,337 * Bearings, engine and drivetrains 23 22 Calsonic Kansei 7,141 * 6,270 Climate control, engine cooling and exhaust systems; instrument clusters; console boxes 24 32 Mahle 6,967 * 4,768 * Piston systems, cylinder components, valvetrain systems, liquid management systems 25 23 Autoliv 6,800 6,188 Airbags, seat belts, safety electronics, steering wheels 26 26 Benteler Automobiltechnik 6,568 5,610 Chassis and exhaust systems, engine application components, bumper/impact management 27 17 ArvinMeritor 6,400 9,195 Axles, brakes, aperture systems, drivelines, wheels, chassis systems 28 25 Hyundai Mobis 6,074 5,686 * Chassis and cockpit modules, front-end modules, ABS, MDPS, airbags 29 31 Toyoda Gosei 5,526 4,780 * Sealing systems, interior systems, optoelectronics, exterior trim, safety systems, fuel systems 30 28 GKN Automotive 5,500 5,100 Side shafts, propshafts, torque management systems and geared components 31 34 BorgWarner 5,329 4,585 Engine air management systems, transmission assemblies, all-wheel-drive systems 32 36 Inter. Automotive Components 5,307 4,306 Instrument panels/cockpits, door panels, headliner systems, flooring and acoustics 33 33 Hella 5,134 4,753 Lighting and electronics systems 34 45 Tenneco Automotive 5,080 3,608 Shocks, struts, NVH products, springs, electronic suspension systems, exhaust systems 35 30 Magneti Marelli 4,995 * 4,970 * Engine control systems, air/fuel systems, lighting instrumentation, electronic systems 36 29 DuPont Automotive 4,980 * 5,029 Coatings; engineering polymers; bio-based, renewably sourced materials; advanced fibers 37 37 Bridgestone 4,892 * 4,200 * Tires, tubes, components 38 46 Panasonic Automotive Systems 4,715 3,600 * Audio and video equipment, cameras, navigation systems, compressors, batteries, motors 39 35 Michelin 4,620 * 4,500 * Tires 40 39 Mitsubishi Electric 4,437 * 3,856 Engine management, ignition systems, audio systems, alternators, starter motors 41 38 Takata 4,364 4,051 Airbags, seat belts, electronics, steering wheels, interior trim 42 41 Federal-Mogul 4,236 3,773 Pistons, rings, cylinder liners, piston pins, bearings, valve seats and guides, gaskets, seals 43 44 Behr 4,233 3,667 Engine cooling, air-conditioning components, modules and systems 44 43 NSK 4,003 * 3,675 * Bearings, steering columns, electric power steering, automatic transmission products 45 42 Goodyear Tire & Rubber 3,900 * 3,750 * Tires, hoses, belts, interior trim, air springs, molded rubber products 46 49 Koito Manufacturing 3,833 3,384 Exterior lighting 47 53 Getrag 3,797 3,164 Bearings, all wheel drive 48 47 Tokai Rika 3,766 3,434 Switches, steering wheels, airbags, shifters, key cylinders, key set locks 49 54 TS Tech 3,634 2,981 Seats, interior trim, roof and door liners 50 40 Cummins Engine 3,628 3,780 Diesel engines 51 50 NHK Spring 3,626 3,261 Stabilizer bars, coil springs, seats and valve springs

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Top 100 suppliers

German and North American ness units contributed to the companies dominate the listing. growth of its revenues. In all, 23 German companies On the other hand, Karmann fell are among the top suppliers by further in the listing, dropping from revenue. The biggest jump came a ranking of 69 to 79. The firm, from Webasto, based in Stockdorf, based in Lower Saxony, was not able Germany. to offset its declining vehicle con- The specialist in roof systems, sli- struction business with its nicely ding roofs and auxiliary heating developing revenues in soft top roof climbed from 90 to 81. Mahle execu- systems. ted a similar move. The Stuttgart The trend is happier for the Cana- firm went up eight spots, rising dian firm Magna. Ranked No.3 from 32 to 24. among the world’s auto suppliers, it Mahle’s purchases of US supplier has just secured a number of con- Bosch headquarters: The largest Dana’s engine parts unit and Sie- tracts to manufacture vehicles. supplier in the world has its mens’ air intake and filtration busi- Klaus-Dieter Flörecke ■ command center in Stuttgart.

Rank Rank Company sales 2007** sales 2006** Products (selection) 2007 2006 (dollars in mn) (dollars in mn) 52 55 Brose 3,400 2,939 Window regulators, door modules, seat adjusters, closure systems, power head restraints 53 48 Navistar International 3,305 * 3,397 * Diesel truck engines 54 52 American Axle 3,248 * 3,192 Driveline and drivetrain systems, axle driveline modules 55 51 Honeywell International 3,200 3,200 Turbochargers, brake friction materials and systems, air and oil filters, antifreeze 56 57 PPG Industries 3,090 * 2,759 * Coatings and paint 56 58 Kolbenschmidt Pierburg 3,090 * 2,750 * Pistons, emission control products, oil/water pumps, engine blocks, manifolds, bearings 58 61 NTN 3,000 * 2,675 Driveshafts, constant-velocity products, hub and clutch units, bearings 58 66 KYB 3,000 2,400 Shock absorbers, hydraulic components 60 64 Grupo Antolin 2,982 2,425 Overhead systems, door function and seat function products 61 59 Freudenberg 2,967 * 2,735 * Seals; precision-molded components for suspension, fuel and electrical systems 62 99 Nemak 2,897 1,336 Aluminum cylinder heads, engine blocks, transmission components, suspension components 63 62 Stanley Electric 2,868 2,641 Exterior lighting, air-conditioning panels and current sensors, LED devices 64 63 Keihin 2,800 2,562 Air and fuel management systems, electronic systems, HVAC systems 65 75 Flex-N-Gate 2,720 2,120 Plastic and steel bumpers, stamping, mechanical assemblies, running boards, sheet metal 66 71 Eberspächer 2,660 2,200 Heaters, exhaust systems, silencers, catalytic converters, particulate filters 67 67 Tyco Electronics 2,640 * 2,390 * Connectors and interconnect systems, switches, circuit protection devices, touch screens 68 65 TI Automotive 2,634 * 2,409 * Fluid storage/delivery systems, hydroformed components, air-conditioning applications 69 70 Royal Philips Electronics 2,590 * 2,324 Lighting, playback modules, car radio integrated circuits, liquid crystal displays 70 73 Showa 2,577 2,178 * Shock absorbers, power steering gearboxes and pumps, propeller shafts, gas springs 71 56 Tower Automotive 2,542 * 2,856 * Body structures and assemblies, lower vehicle frames and structures 72 74 Cooper-Standard Automotive 2,510 2,160 Sealing and fluid systems, NVH control systems 73 60 Alcoa Automotive 2,500 * 2,700 * Electrical and electronic systems, closure panels, hoods and trunks, bumper systems 74 68 Bayer MaterialScience 2,440 2,376 Coatings, adhesives, sealants, plastics, polyurethanes 75 77 Dräxlmaier 2,372 2,041 Interior components, cockpits, linings for roofs/doors/sides, center consoles 76 78 Mando 2,367 1,958 Brake, steering and suspension systems and components 77 72 Asahi Glass 2,326 * 2,192 * Glazing systems 78 85 Plastic Omnium 2,260 1,748 Fascias, front-end modules, rear-end modules, fenders, body panels 79 69 Karmann 2,197 2,345 Convertible roof systems, body manufacturing 80 82 Leoni 2,130 * 1,893 Cables, wiring systems 81 90 Webasto 2,093 1,647 Sunroofs, large roof systems, convertible systems roof modules 82 80 Hutchinson 2,062 * 1,900 * Anti-vibration products, fluid transfer systems, sealing systems, transmission systems 83 88 Hayes Lemmerz International 2,047 1,702 Wheels 84 84 Mitsuba 1,980 * 1,757 * Sunroof motors, power slide door assemblies, power tailgate systems, wiper systems 85 86 Rieter Automotive 1,969 1,739 Acoustic systems, interior trim, carpet, thermal management systems, heat shields 86 – Martinrea International 1,964 740 Body, chassis and fluid-handling components, assemblies and modules 87 87 Freescale Semiconductor 1,908 1,717 Semiconductors, microcontrollers, sensor products 88 79 Plastal 1,900 * 1,930 * Exterior and interior plastics 89 76 Dura Automotive Systems 1,895 2,090 Driver control, integrated glass and seating control systems; structural door modules 90 83 Metaldyne 1,863 * 1,850 * Powertrain and chassis applications; transmission/transfer cases; axles and drivelines 91 94 Georg Fischer 1,859 1,541 Stressable castings 92 96 Kostal 1,828 1,510 Steering-column modules, roof modules, body control units, door control units 93 80 Inergy Automotive Systems 1,800 1,900 Fuel systems 94 89 SKF Automotive 1,780 * 1,652 * Bearings, seals, clutch assemblies, molded rubber products, drive-by-wire systems 95 91 Alpine Electronics 1,751 1,640 Navigation, telematics, sound and video systems 96 98 Dow Automotive 1,735 1,383 Plastics, adhesives, plastic-enhanced products, body structure adhesives, NVH systems 97 92 Modine 1,700 1,600 Thermal management products and systems 98 93 Peguform 1,677 * 1,546 Bumpers, rocker panels, instrument panels, door panels, cockpit modules 99 95 Pilkington 1,664 * 1,534 * Glass products, glazing systems 100 97 Kautex Textron 1,658 1,487 Fuel tank systems, clear-vision systems, selective catalytic reduction systems Sources: Automotive News, Automobilwoche, Automotive News Europe *estimate ** Automotive, numbers and ranking 2006, partially updated

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Warranty costs Quality data is warranty key

IT-supported controlling is helping to improve vehicle quality. Up to 3 percent of warranty costs can be saved in this way.

hen automakers talk about how or poor information flow. Schwarz believes the most de- Wtheir goals for coming years, When repair If a repair shop isn’t informed ab- manding phase of warranty con- one issue is high on the agenda at shops lack out current repair options, for a de- trolling begins when data analysis American, Asian and European he- knowledge fective convertible roof, for exam- yields findings on cost-drivers and adquarters: reducing warranty about repair ple, it will keep replacing the vehi- the root of the problem: the effi- costs. options, cle module with a new one, the con- cient and effective placement of the Ivo Schwarz, at least, is convinced components sultant said. information in the error-elimina- of that. He is senior manager at the can be un- Meanwhile, it might have been tion process as well as a rapid exe- Competence Center for service and necessarily enough to exchange a specific part cution until the problems on site warranty management at Mieschke, replaced with a replacement, keeping costs are solved. Hofmann and Partners, an IT and with expen- much lower. For one thing, a wide variety of process consulting firm. sive new Not least of all, an understanding factors affect the onset of warranty And it is not just because the costs parts. of warranty-cost causes and trends costs. The levers for error elimina- of warranty claims average two to makes it possible to forecast higher tion are multifaceted and cut across three percent of revenues. quality levels and hold financial re- organizations, starting with the “The word is technical res- getting around ponsibility for that high war- the compo- ranty costs, as nent, through an indicator of after-sales pro- bad product duct support, quality with all the way to corresponding the service or- effects on cus- ganization. tomer satisfac- For another, tion and corpo- the success of rate image, ha- the measures is ve a negative ef- often difficult fect on product to demonstrate sales figures,” due to delayed Schwarz said. and ambiguous

In addition, Photo: CARO cause-and- warranty data effect relation- is a central source of information on serves commensurate with them. ships, according to Schwarz. the failure behavior of products in Schwarz considers the implemen- In any case, the goal of all efforts the field. Thus, they are important tation of an appropriate analysis should be to build up a warranty for both early problem recognition tool such as SAP NetWeaver Busi- control process that relies on a tes- and root cause analysis. ness Intelligence to be an important ted IT platform using high-quality, Every day gained through the re- foundation for effective warranty high-value data. cognition of product problems and controlling. This, in turn, needs to be suppor- their solution saves ready cash and But he believes people underesti- ted by effective and transparent pro- generates more satisfied customers, mate the importance of raw data cesses for the avoidance of cost he said. from after-sales for drawing mean- drivers. Moreover, an intensive study of ingful conclusions and making pre- When these two pre-conditions the causes of warranty costs can al- dictions in warranty controlling. are met, warranty controlling can so uncover shortcomings in inter- For example, huge problems of- provide an important contribution nal processes. ten result from the definition of to sustained product quality impro- Using centralized product sup- uniform and meaningful damage vement as well as the reduction of port, it’s possible to recognize service coding as well as its correct applica- warranty costs. employees’ inadequate repair know- tion in the field. Klaus-Dieter Flörecke ■

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Emerging market: India Indian-German contact exchange

The Indian market is attractive to German firms, just as German clients are to Indian firms. Both sides are expecting tremendous growth.

ndia is among the fastest-growing man industry’s investments in already cultivating partnerships Iautomobile markets in the world. India have risen sharply: the num- with international companies, In recent years, all the well-known ber of manufacturing operations Meyer said. automakers have established facili- owned by German companies has The India expert believes that ties there. That has turned the coun- climbed from 34 to 60 in the last 10 companies with annual revenues try into a globally important mar- years. of more than $50 million have the ket for the future. In 2007, more than 25,000 people financial resources to go on a shop- Production is due to double from in India were employed by just 10 ping trip in Europe. That would the current 2.2 million units a year large German suppliers. But Indian currently apply to 40 of the 52 to 4.4 million units by 2010. But it is companies are likewise increasin- members of the Indian supplier precisely the strong growth of its Ratan Tata gly extending their feelers toward group ACMA. car production that poses a special will usher in Europe. In 2014, India’s auto suppliers challenge for India. a new era Among other things, the India Fo- hope to have about 28 billion euros The Indian government is coun- in India rum offers help in this area, assis- in revenues, with two-thirds of it tering the growing vehicle traffic with the ting with joint ventures and acqui- generated abroad. with increasingly strict exhaust Nano car sitions of European and Indian com- “In the reverse direction as well, standards, following Europe’s (costing panies. the new collaboration of Indian example. about 1,700 “There is particularly a need to manufacturers with European part- India is an attractive market for euros). catch up in the technology, quality ners represents a step forward in German automakers and suppliers and logistics areas,” said Dirk Mey- quality for the Indian industry,” since German products enjoy a high er, managing partner for the India said VDA managing director regard there. Forum. Many Indian suppliers are Achim Rauber at the Auto Expo in That’s one reason why the Ger- New Delhi last January. At the automotive fair, 30 German ▲ suppliers had a Photo: REUTERS

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Emerging market: India

presence at a common stand. During just the first three quarters of 2007, cars worth 25 million euros were exported from India to Daily life in Germany. India’s supplier industry India: A was able to boost its exports to Ger- family of many by 20 percent, to 140 million six can only euros, in the same period. afford a “Based on our experience, there is motorcycle hardly a company that is not loo- as a means king for partners or a take-over can- of transpor- didate,” Meyer said. tation. The For the most part, the focus is on Tata Nano German middle-sized, family-ow- may change ned operations with highly advan- that. ced development capacities and

well-known customers within the Photo: AP industry. They often do not have a successor in the company’s ma- Currently, according to the Indian naging director. Employment figu- nagement. industry group ACMA, there are res also show an upward trend: This Companies especially appeal to very few components that can’t be year, the Bosch Group is employing Indian firms if they have special ex- produced in India just as well as in about 18,000 workers in India, ab- pertise that is not available in India Europe or America. Indian produc- out 10 percent more than in 2007. or is in short supply. Among other tion, however, is 30 to 40 percent “We are contributing to the areas, this know-how includes com- less expensive. strong economic growth and India’s petencies in safety technology and Bosch is one of the veterans on growing car ownership with the vehicle electronics. the subcontinent and is extremely expansion of local development The strategy behind the expan- At this time, confident as it looks ahead. Inclu- and manufacturing,” Bohr said. By sion plans is that, besides the tech- nearly all ding all its exports, the revenues 2010, the company wants to have nology transfer, Indian suppliers OEMs have from Bosch’s Indian companies invested at least 495 million euros would get access to European mar- a manufac- amount to nearly a billion euros. in India. kets and customers. That’s why turing pre- “India’s growth dynamic is clear- Besides the expansion of its diesel Meyer is sure the commitments, as sence in ly reflected in our business develop- manufacturing, Bosch has also in- ▲ a rule, are designed to be long-term. India. ment,” said Bernd Bohr, Bosch’s ma- vested in the production of compo- The Indian companies do not simply want a rapid transfer of production to India or the strip- ping of the assets of the firms they purchase. This is rather a matter of building up synergies to ultimately sur- vive in the home market and its competitive environment. After all, global automakers are increasingly moving onto the subcontinent. India experts also don’t foresee the kind of questionable technology transfer that has sometimes taken place between Europe and Chi- na. The feeling is that India doesn’t display the audacity that China sometimes shows in its disregard of intellectual property. Behr, Bosch, Daimler, Continen- tal and Freudenberg are among the best known German suppliers on the subcontinent. Most have bran- ches in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai, the large automotive centers in the country.

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Emerging market: India

nents for gasoline systems. In addition, ABS production is

scheduled for launch late this year, Photo: VARIO while the manufacture of electronic control units is planned for 2009. Just last July, Bosch’s rival Conti- nental opened a new research and development as well as a production facility for electronic components near Bangalore. “Based on projections, nearly one out of every two cars will be built in Asia starting in 2012, in the so- called ‘affordable car’ segment,” Jay Kunkel, Continental’s Asia chief, said recently. Continental is hoping for rising sales in electronic components due to India’s strict emissions standards and safety regulations. In addition, the German supplier would like to generate a quarter of its total revenues in Asia by 2015 and is striving for an annual rate of 60 percent by 2012. The VDA, the German auto industry association, predicts a good opportunity for clean-diesel vehicles in the Indian market. “German automakers and suppliers are the global leaders in this field of technology,” said Rauber, VDA’s managing director. “With its fuel efficiency, clean diesel has considerable potential for CO2 reduction in new cars in India, too.” The prerequisite for this is that diesel fuel be offered at Indian fueling stations with the a quality of 50 ppm at most. A survey of VDA member companies early this year revealed that they plan to increasingly source parts in India from now on. The group says that a free trade agree- Projected ment for India and the EU would traffic increa- further promote and increase trade. ses have led But it’s likely that Indian sup- the Indian pliers will only have opportunities government if they come up with the technolo- to impose gical and financial resources to tough emis- adapt to the requirements of auto- sions stan- makers and mega-suppliers. dards. EU re- India experts warn that the multi- gulations are plicity of models and increasingly the model. short vehicle life cycles signal high demands on the delivery capabilities and quality level of Indian suppliers. Bettina Mayer ■

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Car insurance Premiums made to measure

Using a “Pay-As-You-Drive” model, insurance companies intend to consider individual driving behavior more fully than they have done in the past.

uropean insurance companies led in the vehicle. It contains a mo- accident risk for the roughly 300 Eare tinkering with concepts for Data col- dule that records the GPS (global test drivers fell 25 percent. The sche- made-to-measure vehicle insurance lection en positioning system) signal that it re- me is also being tested in countries policies. With “Pay As You Drive route: A ceives during the trip. The signals such as Italy, Austria, Switzerland, (PAYD),” the user makes a premium telematics provide information on location, the Netherlands and Germany. payment based on his daily “usage,” box instal- driving direction and speed as well Insurance companies can also of- much like water or electric bills. led in the as the date and time. fer their customers additional servi- The beneficiaries of this type of vehicle The telematics box sends the GPS ces with the telematics equipment regime would be drivers who don’t can gather data to the data processing center of that is needed for PAYD. use their vehicles very much and route, time the insurance company or a system They include an automatic emer- disproportionately bear the burden and even provider. gency call after an accident, anti- of traditional blanket premium cal- speed data. At that location, the data is lined theft devices or a car finder to locate a stolen vehicle. These telematics services already represent a big market in the US. PAYD is highly controversial when it comes to data protection, however. A satellite-based tracking system evokes fears of total surveil- lance. Peter Schaar, the federal official in charge of data protection, sees the danger “that greed could be aroused and the collected data could be used for other purposes.” One example would be the prosecution of minor infractions. In a test by the WGV insurance company, this problem was solved with a separation of data capture on one hand and billing on the other. The system provider T-Systems undertakes the compilation and evaluation of the data anonymous- ly. The insurer only receives data in evaluated form, meaning data in culations. up with the street network of a digi- terms of abstract time periods and But it’s not only the total kilome- tal map, which permits the recon- kilometers driven on a type of road. ters driven that insurance compa- struction of the route driven. Final- But it doesn’t receive concrete da- nies will consider in the calcula- ly, an individual price for the insu- ta on dates and times or the exact tion. rance is calculated. route. Only the customers receive There’s also an interest in whet- Norwich Union, Britain’s market the exact routes so they can check her the driver mainly travels in acci- leader, was the first to introduce their bills. dent-prone rush-hour periods or PAYD in 2005. Over three years, no- Despite many insurers’ hesitancy, uses “more dangerous” surface ro- vice drivers in Denmark have tested financial services expert Berger is ads instead of the autobahn. With a system that doesn’t just record confident that the reservations will this scheme, the owner saves more trips but also contains a speed war- successively be dispelled and that if he avoids these risks. ning device. PAYD is on its way, “even if it’s more Drivers choosing this system re- When the speed limit is exceeded, likely to be in five years and not ceive a telematics box that is instal- a warning tone alerts the driver. The three.” Klaus-Dieter Flörecke ■

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Bonding techniques Joining what belongs together

New materials require new bonding techniques, including mechanical processes like punch riveting and adhesive bonding, as well as laser soldering.

utomakers are assuring the ced to some extent by more recent can be carried over to the entire Astructural integrity of modern joining techniques such as adhesive component for the most part, he vehicle bodies with better steel. For bonding. said. example, based on weight, the use Böllhoff sup- For the most part, however, the For example, that applies to the of higher and maximum-strength ported Audi various procedures are used in pa- compressability of high-strength steel grew from 52 to 67 percent on in the deve- rallel. “An automobile is held toget- steels. Adhesive sections do better the new Opel Insignia, compared to lopment of her by a great many weld and joi- than those with laser-weld, spot or its predecessor. a new punch- ning techniques,” said Ulrich Dil- linear joining, since they compress But steel’s complexity rises with riveting they, a professor at the Institute for less. its quality and raises the question: process for Welding and Joining Technology at So the properties of the steel are “How can you join it?,” according to joining alu- RWTH Aachen. improved. Adhesive bonding is fre- Ernst Miklos of equipment maker minum and “A car has about 3,000 to 5,000 quently more economical and redu- Linde AG in Unterschleissheim. steel in the weld points, 20 to 50 meters of laser ces vehicle weight. Research at De- Correspondingly, materials rese- new TT. weld seams, 1,000 punch rivets and gussa shows that one out of every archers are trying to get a handle on many meters of adhesive bonding two weld points can be replaced joining new materials in their va- technology.” with adhesive bonding. rious combinations. The material properties of indivi- Moreover, the use of 1kg of adhe- “In a fairly recent evaluation of dual parts are transmitted to the sive reduces vehicle weight by 25kg, 255 research projects, we determi- entire final component by means of because sheet metal bonded with ned that only about 65 percent are bonding, explains Wilko Fluegge of adhesives can be thinner. concerned with conventional wel- Salzgitter Mannesman Research, ci- Yet another trend is the use of ding,” Miklos said. ting the advantages of a combina- structural adhesives for metal, since One of the great challenges is the tion of adhesive bonding and me- they make the body stiffer and im- great sensitivity of modern steel to chanical joining. prove its crash performance. heat. This means that conventional A key advance is that the impro- Detachable adhesive joinings are arc or flame welding is being displa- ved performance of steel materials one of the greatest challenges cur-

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Bonding techniques

rently being explored. While ves a nail-like bonding part being welded steel bodies are simply mel- accelerated to a high speed, so that ted down, vehicles made using bon- the material is strongly heated lo- ded materials are a problem for re- cally during the penetration. cycling. No pre-drilled hole is needed for Adhesives that lose their sticking stud setting. Access on one side is power “on command,” so to speak, all the process requires. are in demand. Automakers’ deve- In the future, Meschut is expec- lopment departments are working ting competition among joining on new processes for the repair of technologies. “In that process, me- parts bonded with adhesives, for chanical bonding will be preferred example, after an accident. as an application when thermal Audi is pressing ahead with work procedures come up against their on new joining processes because limits.” the Ingolstadt firm is turning to the Hans Hornig, manager of joining combination of aluminum and technology at BMW, advocates an- steel. Audi is getting help from the velopment at Böllhoff, stresses the other technology. Wilhelm Böllhoff firm, a specialist Checking the versatility of the punch rivet tech- “Laser beam hard soldering offers in mechanical joining techniques joins at the nology. “It allows a variety of mate- advantages for the bonding of fully based in Bielefeld. Audi factory rials, a variety of steels, and especi- galvanized body structures and of- Punch-rivets, composed of up to in Neckars- ally hybrid-construction projects to fers great design freedom from the 80 percent aluminum, are coming ulm: the be realized quite beautifully.” standpoint of manufacturing tech- into use on a Böllhoff assembly line new joining A total of 1,606 punch rivets were nology,” he said. for the Audi TT, especially in the ve- process was used in the Audi TT. And punch ri- In the welding of galvanized steel hicle’s front and platform areas. developed vet technology is also reliable in full sheet metal, the process engineers The punch-rivet joining procedu- here. production runs. have got to contend with zinc coa- re is now being integrated into the According to Meschut, the error tings that have low melting points forming technology. rate for rivet application is below and that can therefore quickly va- As part of a self-punch process 0.25 percent. The rivet technology porize. without any pre-drilled holes, the ri- was first used in the first Audi A8. The welding process disturbs vet is inserted into two or more “A punch rivet joint is similar to a them with explosion-like ejections sheet metal plies. weld in its complexity,” he said. “We of the molten raw material. The punch process and the for- are just involved with other para- Due to its lower temperature ming step of the stamping provide meters that have an impact on qua- compared to welding, laser beam the subsequent firmness in the lo- lity of the bond.” hard soldering reduces the deterio- wer sheet metal ply. Böllhoff is also working on other ration of the focus lens in the wel- Gerson Meschut, managing direc- mechanical joining processes, such ding head. tor for technology, research and de- as stud setting. This process invol- Jochen Kruse ■

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Investment incentives Government promotes leasing

German companies have numerous subsidy programs to choose from. But 40 percent of the allocated funds aren’t being used.

ubsidies and leasing are not mu- vestment subsidy and leasing in a That also applies to the leasing Stually exclusive. So it’s possible number of ways. Jobs for version of a subsidy incentive. For for suppliers in the German auto in- The sums are attractive. One cal- women are example, capital goods purchased dustry to combine a non-reimbursa- culation: A company creates 10 jobs eligible for have to remain at the company five ble subsidy with an investment in for women and invests 1 million eu- incentives. years. leasing. Using these funds, the les- ros in equipment in the process. But many Similarly, the positions created see can lower his leasing rate. In the case of an incentive rate of of the with the help of an incentive pro- “The subsidy flows to the lessor 15 percent, it receives a 150,000 eu- funds avail- gram have to be maintained and oc- and is used to lower the leasing ra- ro subsidy. For an investment in fi- able aren’t cupied for five years. te,” said Peter Philippen of the in- xed assets of just 800,000 euros, the being “For some companies, depending centives consulting/leasing depart- amount of the incentive would still tapped. on the economic field, this period of ment at the German Kreissparkasse come to 120,000 euros. commitment can become confi- ning,” Philippen said. And, in the case of leasing, there is even the pressure to purchase at the end. “As part of North Rhine-West- phalia’s regional economic development program, movable capital equipment financed with leasing and carried as an asset by the lessor has to be acquired by the subsidy’s recipient/lessee at the conclusion of the leasing contract,” said Rainer Glanemann, general manager at NRW Bank’s economic incentives department. The reason: Lawmakers have sti- pulated that the subsidized equipment has to remain at the subsidized company in the end. To receive the funds, companies need to have applied for investment subsidies before the start of the project. At the filing of the application, Heinsberg savings bank. You multiply 10 times 100,000 eu- they have to submit a business plan “Along with tax issues, profitabili- ros per job for women (the figure is and a certificate of registration as ty and liquidity play a decisive role,” 75,000 euros for men) to get the ma- well as provide verification of the he said. ximum cost eligible for incentives. invested capital. That’s because the company’s It is capped by the amount of the ac- But some suppliers don’t take ad- shareholder equity would have to tual fixed asset investment volume. vantage of these opportunities. Ac- grow with the expansion of the ba- “Nevertheless, companies absolu- cording to the federal association lance sheet total. “So the smaller the tely have reason not to decide in fa- for the promotion of medium-sized company’s equity-to-assets ratio, vor of a conventional subsidy incen- firms, 76 percent of all small and the less favorable the rating. tive,” Philippen said. medium-sized firms still haven’t As companies woud like to avoid “A subsidy incentive can restrict a used subsidies. extending their balance sheets, company,” he explained. “Certain Moreover, about 40 percent of the more are opting for leasing. criteria have to be met so that the funds allocated for subsidies remain Companies benefit from a finan- subsidies being granted don’t have unused. cing structure consisting of an in- to be paid back.” Anke Brillen ■

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Lightweight materials A lighter burden in the future

Lightweight construction is learning from mother nature. The result is some radical new approaches.

echnology can still learn a good Tdeal from nature: Bioenginee- ring is applying natural construction principles to automotive components. One designer chair shows what development engineers are wor- The bionic king on. This work of Dutch artist chair of Joris Laarman is based on biological Dutch artist design principles. The chair resul- Joris Laar- ted from a joint project with vehicle man is on engineer Lothar Haarzheim of the display at GM Europe (GME) development the Museum center in Rüsselsheim, Germany. of Modern “Just as trees add material to hea- Art in New vily stressed areas and bones spare York. material at less stressed areas, we are optimizing vehicle components with the help of a computer pro- Harzheim researched the optimal The 1/X weighs merely 420 kilos, gram that simulates the natural structure of the chair strutting ba- as its body consists entirely of car- growth process of bones and trees,” sed on nine load conditions. bon fiber composite material. Harzheim explains. Lightweight Radical thinking is currently in The especially light passenger At the same time, he draws a dis- nature: demand: Toyota presented that kind compartment doesn’t lag at all be- tinction between computer-aided On the of extreme approach at the Geneva hind conventional steel construc- optimization (CAO) and the soft kill computer, auto show this year, in the form of a tion in collision safety. And it offers option (SKO) processes. Lothar concept car called the 1/X. other safety advantages. With the CAO process, he takes Harzheim The 1/X’s design was based on the For example, thanks to its high the external contour of a compo- optimizes interior space of a Prius. The goal strength, the width of the body pil- nent to be optimized and allows it vehicle was to cut weight and fuel econo- lars can be reduced. That widens to grow based on the principle of components my in half while maintaining the the driver’s field of vision and im- biological growth. modeled on highest safety standards. And, inci- proves his ability to avoid accidents. With the SKO option, this ap- nature. dentally, to take up considerably With lightweight construction, proach is also applied to the less of a road lane’s surface. the current weight spiral (more internal structure. In this weight requiring stronger engines, way, superfluous material in turn requiring bigger brakes, and can be removed from the in- so on) goes into reverse. terior, as is the case for bones. The hybrid drive of the 1/X has The result is an extreme just a 500cc internal combustion design for lightweight engines for longer distances. construction. The bottom line is that Toyota In the seat pro- is figuring on fuel consumption of ject, the size, 2.2 liters per 100km driven. Carbon height and confi- fiber composites are still expensive, guration of the seat but Toyota expects to learn from and the backrest were a recent move into aerospace pre-defined, and the construction. In future, carbon positioning of the fiber could become economically contact area for the feasible in vehicle manufacturing chair legs was pre-set. as well. With a computer, Jochen Kruse ■

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Turbochargers Pressure builds in turbo business

The market for turbochargers is booming worldwide. German suppliers are joining Japanese and US companies in developing these systems.

he market for turbochargers is manufacturers would like to create gest factory in Germany. It also has Tpromising auto suppliers some Turbo- a counterweight to industry giants its headquarters at Kirchheimbo- good business. Heinz Junker, Mah- chargers on Honeywell Technologies, BorgWar- landen. le’s CEO, expects worldwide de- the test ner Turbo & Emissions Systems “In turbochargers, we really are a mand for these systems to grow stand. More (both in the US) as well as Mitsubi- German company,” Matthes said. from 15 million in 2006 to about 45 and more shi Heavy Industries (Japan). His company’s largest customer is million in 2020. suppliers That’s because US supplier Borg- also German: Volkswagen. That’s the reason this supplier of are parti- Warner is also continuing to ex- A decade ago, the supplier gene- engine components and drive train cipating in pand its business in turbocharger rated about 70 percent of revenues systems sees the turbocharger busi- the growing systems. in North America. Now only about ness as one of its building blocks for market for In mid-March, the ground- 15 percent comes from that mar- future growth. When it went loo- turbo- breaking took place for a new facto- ket. BorgWarner is also seeing king for a partner, the Stuttgart, Ger- charger ry in Rzeszów, southeast of Krakow. strong growth for its turbochargers many, firm came up with one in the systems. Startng in 2009, 500,000 turbochar- in Asia. neighborhood. gers will be produced there annual- The arrival of new competitors Mahle has jo- meanwhile is- ined Bosch in a not giving Mat- 50-50 joint ven- thes any worry ture for the de- lines. “The mar- velopment, sa- ket is large, it’s les and produc- growing fast, tion of turbo- and it can also chargers. stand more Junker sees competitors.” turbocharging Back in Fe- of advanced en- bruary, Heidel- gines with ex- berg-based sup- haust gas tur- plier IHI Char- bochargers as ging Systems one of the key International, a technologies to joint venture reduce fuel between Daim- consumption ler AG and the and CO2 emissions. ly for European automakers. IHI Group in Tokyo said it planned While diesels frequently have ex- According to Bernd Matthes, pre- to build a turbocharger factory in haust gas turbochargers already, “to sident of BorgWarner Transmission Arnstadt. a rapidly increasing extent, this will Systems, the company is planning VDO, the former Siemens subsidi- also be realized in gasoline engines more expansion at the location. ary purchased by Continental, is al- in combination with direct-fuel He is likewise convinced that the so busy with the development of injection in coming years.” turbocharger segment will be dri- turbocharger systems. Junker expects that the joint ven- ven by diesels with dual turbochar- “It’s not our ambition to become ture will produce about 1.5 million ging systems as well as by more ga- the world’s largest manufacturer exhaust gas turbochargers in 2015. soline engines with turbochargers of turbochargers,” Matthes said. The expansion of an existing facili- due to downsizing. “We want to lead technologically, ty in St. Michael, Austria, began this Early this year, BorgWarner’s fac- and we naturally want to make summer. About 400 employees are tory at Oroszlány, Hungary, 80km money.” expected to handle production and west of Budapest, was expanded by He stressed that he would conti- final assembly. nearly 5,000 square meters, to nue to pay attention to the profita- The rationale for the German 13,500. bility of all new business. companies’ commitment: Vehicle BorgWarner not only has its lar- Klaus-Dieter Flörecke ■

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Future electric cars The hype over electric vehicles

A number of manufacturers and suppliers are working at full speed on solutions for electric cars and the battery technology that they urgently need.

he victory lap of the electric car analyst at the Frost & Sullivan con- emissions-free, affordable high- Tseems to go on and on. Starting Tesla Road- sulting firm, expects “vehicle manu- volume solution,” he said. in 2025, all newly registered cars in ster: The facturers to compete in all the cus- GM CEO Rick Wagoner had pre- Europe will be equipped with hy- sports car tomer segments, from economy to viously announced that the Chevro- brid or electric drives, according to from the premium.” Based on his forecast, let Volt would be out during the au- the Center for Automotive Research California- the price of an electric car will fluc- tumn of 2010. (CAR) at the University of Applied based low- tuate between 11,000 euros and But this advanced technology has Sciences Gelsenkirchen. volume 348,000 euros. its costs. Carl-Peter Forster, the pre- In just two years, more affordable, manufac- The Tesla Roadster is an early president of GM Europe, points out higher-performance batteries are turer is cursor of the future generation of that Opel customers will have to expected to make electric cars a due out in electrical vehicles. The sports car pay more for an electric car than for mass phenomenon. According to Europe in from California is due out in Europe a comparable gas or diesel model. CAR’s calculations, the total num- spring 2009. in spring 2009. The vehicle creates The planned electric cars will in- ber of hybrid and electric cars sold its energy from more than 6,800 lap- itially be built in the US and then in the European Union will rise top batteries. supplied to Europe. But GM’s Euro- from 80,000 this year to 16.2 million pean factories could also profit in 2025. from increased demand for these It was clear at the Paris auto show kinds of vehicles. “Nearly in October that the indus- every plant could entry is betting hea- tertain the hopes of vily on electric someday produ- cars. All of the cing electric vehi- carmakers cles, as they use ele- present sho- ments of existing wed models models as their buil- equipped ding blocks.” with new fuel- But drivers could saving techno- thwart the vehicle manufactu- logies. Most of rers’ plans. “At least in the high- those models had volume segment, the pain thres- mild or full hybrids. hold of a surcharge for a clean It isn’t clear to Wolf- By spring, produc- powertrain technology averages gang Bernhart, automotive analyst tion is expected to ramp 2,000 euros per vehicle,” Daimler at Roland Berger Strategy Consul- up from 10 cars a week to as many CEO Dieter Zetsche said. tants, “what share of vehicles will as 40 units a week. be driven purely electrically and Tesla is requiring an advance pay- Mercedes, BMW have plans what share will have a so-called ment of 50,000 euros for “Signature ‘range extender,’ which large vehi- Edition” cars from the first 250 Zetsche has announced that an cles will tend to have as equip- manufactured. At delivery, another electric engine would be ready for ment.” 49,000 euros plus tax is due. production in 2010. It’s not just for Meanwhile, well-known automa- the Smart car, but also Mercedes- Competing in all segments kers are in a race to create the first Benz vehicles. Development chief electric car with a range of more Thomas Weber says the A- or The term ‘range extender’ refers than 100km that can go into regular B-Class would be suitable for it. to an auxiliary internal combustion production. Due to their sandwich floor con- engine that primarily functions as a According to CEO Martin Winter- cept, these vehicles are ideal for generator to recharge the battery. korn, Volkswagen wants to be the alternative drives. General Motors’ E-Flex concept first company to actually offer a high- A few weeks ago, Bavarian auto- works in this way. volume solution to the electric car. maker BMW also made the surpri- Anjan Hemanth Kumar, research “We have to be the first to offer an sing announcement of plans to

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Future electric cars

bring a small series of electric cars to market this autumn. A total of 500 cars from its Mini subsidiary, powered by lithium ion batteries, are expected to create a sensation, especially in urban areas.

Falling lithium-ion prices

But that won’t satisfy the Munich-based firm. The automaker has a development squad of 100 employees in its Project I program who are looking at the prospects for electric propulsion. Falling prices for lithium ion batteries are indispensable for electrical vehicles to expand more widely. Experts say power electronics and cooling technology are among the greatest cost elements. Consultant Bernhart figures that costs of 400 to 500 euros per kilo- watt hour have to be expected in 2010. But they won’t stay at that level. “For 2020, however, I expect Chevrolet Bosch will begin the manufacture electric motors to be commodities costs of 200 to 300 euros per kilo- Volt: General of individual battery cells in 2010 that we want to outsource,” said watt hour.” Motors has and start production of battery sys- Herbert Kohler, the top powertrain In 2020, based on the company’s announced tems, the so-called power packs, a developer at Daimler. model calculations, an electric vehi- that regular year later. “When you source these compo- cle should be more affordable over production of The Swabian firm decided on nents from third parties, you have its life cycle than a comparable car its electric car Samsung as a partner because the to accept compromises, which a with an internal combustion engine. will begin in Japanese are one of the market lea- high-volume manufacturer can Renault is even confident that autumn 2010. ders in lithium ion batteries in the afford but not a premium automa- the electric car will pay off by 2013. consumer field. ker like us.” “The costs of the components will Bosch also doesn’t want to com- A functioning infrastructure is al- fall and the value of emission-free mit to a business connection with a so key to the success of electric vehi- vehicles will rise. That will make single vehicle manufacturer, said cles. “The technology is in its starting projects of this type profitable,” Bernd Bohr, head of the vehicle blocks,” said Zetsche, Daimler’s CEO. said Patrick Pélata, Renault’s brand technology unit at the company. It’s now time for the energy suppliers chief. The firm calculates that 2.5 mil- and oil companies to put their com- lion to 3 million new cars will be mitment to the test, he said. Bosch teams with Samsung equipped with hybrid drive in 2015. In any case, consultant Bernhart In addition, it expects up to 800,000 is confident about the infrastructu- Next year, for the first time, Mer- purely electric vehicles. re issue. cedes will employ a lithium ion bat- “There are already a whole range tery in a mild hybrid in its S-Class. Keeping it in-house of energy suppliers and other com- Continental is its supplier and deve- panies standing in the starting lopment partner. Electric drives will especially ha- blocks to build up a broad-based in- Other suppliers have also discove- ve noticeable effects on traditional frastructure to charge up batteries.” red battery technology, seeing it as a suppliers in the powertrain field. The Dusseldorf energy supplier field of the future. Stuttgart-based The suppliers will be under pressu- EON is participating in a fleet test Bosch is even convinced that the re from two sides. First, engine and with Volkswagen, for example. key to the company’s growth in hy- transmission components will be The new market is already attrac- brid systems is tied to these energy eliminated. Second, industry obser- tive to suppliers because they can storage devices. vers suspect that many automakers cover the energy needs from already For example, the company an- will likely claim the growing busi- available nighttime capacity. More- nounced a joint venture with the ness with batteries and electric mo- over, investments in charging sta- South Korean electronics concern tors for themselves. tions are manageable. Samsung in August. “We don’t consider batteries and Klaus-Dieter Flörecke ■

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Financial services Financing with ABS-Light

A special form of factoring is offering mid-sized suppliers the chance to become more independent of their customers’ payment practices.

In addition, SFS bears 100 percent of the risk of financial loss. With factoring, advances amoun- ting to 90 percent of the account sum are possible as a rule. But ABS- Light advances up to 100 percent. ABS-Light also offers relatively long terms. It buys accounts with terms of up to 180 days. The figure is usually just 90 to 120 days for factoring. Companies starting at about 30 million euros in revenues, with sa- leable account inventory of 3 million euros, now have a financial alternative to the sale of their commercial accounts. In practice, conventional ABS mostly pays off for an accounts inventory of substantially more than 25 million euros. As a rule, those are companies with significantly more than 200 million euros in revenues. And that’s with relative consis- tency in the composition of its port- inancial services firm Coface has Support from of the invoice,” Steiner said. Leoni folio and the use of the lines it has Freported a substantial deteriora- a services mainly sells accounts with good been granted. tion in companies’ payment beha- provider: At credit. “We don’t want to pay dearly The decisive factor for Leoni, ho- vior around the world. ABS-Light, for the balance sheet effects.” wever, was not the relatively low Payment delays rose 45 percent the costs of That’s because this comfort isn’t entry volume, but rather the finan- during the first four months of the services free. SFS provides it under the pro- cial terms. “We don’t accept the hid- 2008, it says. The auto industry was are individ- duct name ABS-Light. den fees that are customary in facto- affected as well. ually nego- Besides the Euribor prime rate, ring,” a source at the supplier said. But payment delays aren’t an tiable. SFS requires a so-called “all-in-mar- ABS-Light was chosen because issue for electronics specialist Leoni. gin.” However, “the costs are indivi- the terms were comparable to nor- “At Leoni, we have all available dually negotiable,” Steiner said. mal loan financing. “The fees must financing instruments in use and He can influence those costs by be transparent. Our costs can be re- exploit all the resources,” said putting the portfolio together him- cognized clearly and distinctly in Robert F. Steiner, vice president for self. As a rule, factoring involves the the interest rate,” the source said. corporate finance at the Bavarian acquisition of all the accounts. But The balance-sheet advantages are supplier. “That way, we are always at ABS-Light, the structure of the likewise clearly visible. “With a re- liquid, even if a financial resource portfolio is flexibly negotiable. volving sale of accounts, the opera- were to dry up.” ABS-Light combines the advanta- tional cash-flow figures are impro- Factoring is one of these resour- ges of conventional factoring with ved,” said Martin Hartge, manage- ces. Leoni sells its accounts to Sie- those of asset-backed securities. In ment member and head of the Wor- mens Financial Services (SFS) and its main departure from the securi- king Capital Finance Sales at SFS. thus remains independent of the ties approach, SFS doesn’t place the ABS-Light’s one disadvantage: payment behavior of its customers. accounts on the capital markets, Debtor management stays with the “The money goes into our bank but rather holds them on its own seller of the accounts. account four days after the issuance balance sheet. Anke Brillen ■

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Environmentally friendly technology Fuel saving under development

In the future, driver assistance systems will not only promote safety, but save fuel as well. Experts are working on new simulation methods.

umerous studies credit driver The impact ger of innovation at IPG. linkage of two current development Nassistance systems with enor- of driver But these driving cycles did not tools: the CarMaker driving dyna- mous potential for the improve- assistance lead to reliable fuel consumption mics software and the AVL Cruise ment of active safety. Their possible systems in readings, as losses from individual drive train simulation. influence on the reduction of fuel various vehicle components as well as the “At the major automakers, AVL consumption, however, is still in situations influence of driver assistance sys- Cruise is already a component inte- the test phase. is studied tems are not captured in these cases. grated into wide-ranging areas of But their positive effect has beco- in simula- “The results of concrete con- development processes,” said Engel- me obvious: driver assistance sys- tions. sumption simulations for vehicles bert Loibner of AVL. tems such as distance regulators with ACC (adaptive cruise control) That’s a big advantage for devel- provide more comfort and safety be- regulator systems made this clear,” opers, as they can exchange data cause they let drivers anticipate bet- Schick said. “In any case, the poten- more easily using it. ter. At the same time, they can con- tial for CO2 reduction was there.” CarMaker simulates all the vehi- tribute to a noticeable reduction in IPG can conduct a detailed analy- cle’s lower components, such as sus- CO2 emissions. sis of fuel consumption in simulated pension, steering, brakes, and tires, That is why experts at IPG Auto- driving and traffic situations. along with its mass and aerodyna- motive, a simulations specialist in The simulation is based on the mics. A scenario manager makes it Karlsruhe, Germany, are working possible to simulate any on assistance systems from the given traffic situation, standpoint of saving fuel, too. with both stationary ob- With a PC simulation, they analy- stacles and vehicles ze the vehicle’s behavior and its A distance both oncoming and out energy usage, trying to impose rules regulator in front. on the individual systems that, system can The first findings of when they work together, are desi- help cut the simulations: “It has gned to lower fuel consumption du- fuel con- made clear just how ring various driving maneuvers. sumption massively curves affect “The ECE cycle is standard today and emis- CO2 emissions,” Loib- in the measurement of consump- sions. ner said. tion,” said Bernhard Schick, mana- Bettina Mayer ■

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Risk management Suppliers team up to reduce risks

As pressure to control costs and boost innovation increases, professional risk management is becoming more important to suppliers.

ssues related to the hedging of Iraw material risks and the threat of production stoppages as a result of supply chain problems are more current than ever in the global supplier community. And risk management isn’t just the key to confronting firms’ conti- nually increasing cost and innovation pressures, says Hendrik F. Loeffler, managing director of Hamburg-based Funk RMCE, which specializes in this area. He believes there are a number of aspects requiring a good deal of trans- parency and long-term precaution. On the one hand, there are the so-

called strategic partnerships between Photo: DPA suppliers and automakers. On the other, there are the responses to economic, legal and political challenges management at German interior Steel pro- nes for the introduction and increa- such as compliance issues, corporate specialist Grammer, also believes duction: sed development of a risk manage- governance, IT security, raw materi- risk potential has increased sharply. High raw ment system in the supplier industry. als crises and cutthroat competition. “We haven’t run out of material material When asked publicly about this A source at Vibracoustic, a specia- yet,” he said, describing the mee- costs are a key issue, suppliers respond with list in vibration-control technologies, tings of a supplier study group, big risk in great hesitation. Experts say that is describes the problem in this way: “Risk Management for Companies the supply because they fear the term risk ma- “When there is a failure in the field, in the Auto Supplier Industry.” chain. nagement could trigger the wrong the supplier doesn’t just bear the Fifteen companies brought this connotations among automakers. costs of delivering the replacement platform into being in late 2005. In other words, the word “risk” part, but all the other costs related Today it has about 100 members, might be seen as a banner announ- to the incident.” including Leoni, Draexlmeier, cing the supplier’s business pro- Parts replacements and recalls Grammer, and Huf Huelsbeck and blems to the world. become an incalculable life-or- Fuerst. But today risk management is one death risk. The consulting firm Funk RMCE, a of the precautions a company takes Albert Mees, vice president for co-founder of the study group, sees its to assure its continued existence. On corporate development and risk focus as the formulation of guideli- this issue, suppliers in Germany are Assembly ahead of other sectors in the country. at Leoni: But Funk RMCE’s Loeffler believes The German risk management, despite growing supplier is awareness of the issues, still doesn’t using more go far enough. advanced To a great extent, the industry risk manage- lacks systematic and, in particular, ment integrated risk management that systems. works across departments. It is management that doesn’t just specify the risks, but also evaluates them appropriately. Wolf R. Ussler ■

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Engineering service providers Higher complexity is good for providers of engineering services

More models and new limits on CO2 emissions are gene- rating more business for engineering service providers

lternative drives and growing Amarkets in developing countries are posing new challenges for engineering service providers while opening up opportunities for additional growth. The spectrum of businesses ran- ges from companies dealing with environment and fuel consumption, firms not tied to a single automaker. the entire process chain from de- legislation, safety, and vehicle A project Automakers’ requirements for en- sign to its derivative, all the way to weight are front and center for the discussion at gineering companies have changed. specialists that focus on engine de- auto industry. They affect all parts of Bertrandt: Bichler notes that specifications for velopment or electronic systems. automobile manufacturing. Even in the projects have become more complex. Besides service providers, there “Further improvement will only future, de- They don’t just involve the tech- are pure engineering companies be possible with the interplay of the velopment nical content of the projects, but al- that also produce hardware, along individual systems in the vehicle,” work will so requirements for the company’s with firms that merely lend engi- Bichler said. “Today, additional dra- be handled financial stability. neers and technology to automotive matic steps cannot be achieved from Europe. But that’s apparently not the end companies for a limited period. with individual measures.” of the road. “In the future, I expect In any case, Dietmar Bichler, CEO Wolfgang Ruecker, CEO of Rue- that the expectations will continue of Bertrandt AG, sees good prospects cker AG, also sees good opportuni- to grow in this regard, especially for for engineering services providers. ties for the auto industry’s enginee- the larger projects,” Bichler said. “Basically, the outlook is good. ring services sector. He sees signifi- Emerging markets such as India Our customers, the vehicle manu- cant potential for his own firm in and China haven’t just become mo- facturers, keep expanding their mo- vehicle exteriors and interiors. re important for manufacturers in del lines, occupying more niches in The Wiesbaden-based company is recent years. The engineering com- the process. That brings enginee- in the top ranks of development panies are increasing their involve- ring service providers additional firms, with more than 2,500 engi- ment as well. contract volume.” neers worldwide. Ruecker genera- One example is AVL List, based in That trend extends to the south ted about 78 percent of its 168.9 mil- Graz, Austria. “China and India are German firm’s other customer lion euros in revenues last year already among our most important group, the system suppliers. from the auto industry. sales markets,” said Patrick Signar- “Lawmakers are boosting demand For further growth, Ruecker can gout, who is in charge of sales and for engineering services, with their also imagine a strategic partner’s international operations in the po- standards for CO2 reduction and pe- participation in his company “to as- wertrain area. destrian protection, for example,” sure a basic utilization” of capacity. In 2006, the Austrian firm already Bichler said The CEO, who is Ruecker’s main achieved about 15 percent of reve- Bertrandt says issues such as the shareholder, would be interested in nues in developing countries. “And

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Engineering service providers

Overview: The world’s 25 biggest providers of engineering services 2007

Rank (’06)Company Sales 2007 1) Automotive 1) Employees Focus 1 (1) AVL List (A) 625.0 625.0 4,100 Powertrain, measurement & testing technology 2 (2) Edag Engineering (G) 611.0 550.0 5,200 Full vehicle, modules, plants 3 (4) Bertrandt (G) 339.5 322.5 4,708 Entire process chain 4 (3) IAV (G) 310.0 310.0 3,180 Electronics, powertrain, vehicle development 5 (6) MBtech Group (G) 300.0 about 285.0 2,500 Full vehicle, engine, powertrain, chassis 6 (5) Ferchau (G) 280.0 60.0 3,900 Chassis, suspension, engine, systems 7 (11) Bosch Engineering (G) 190.02) 175.02) 900 Engine modules, transmissions, brake systems. 8 (8) ESG (G) 186.0 59.0 1,150 Software architecture, electronics, driver assistance 9 (9) GermanINTEC (G) 176.0 167.2 1,227 Interiors, exteriors, small-series vehicle production 10 (10) FEV (G) 175.0 k.A. 1,500 Engines, alternative powertrains, measurement, testing 11 (6) Magna Steyr (A) 170.02) 170.02) 1,900 Full vehicle, prototype, alternative powertrains 11 (11) Karmann (G) about 170.0 about 170.0 about 1,200 Full vehicle, roof systems, production systems 13 (13) Rücker (G) 168.9 132.0 2,528 Interiors, exteriors, virtual reality, electrical/electronics 14 (15) ETAS (G) 137.0 137.0 700 Development & diagnostics tools for control systems 15 (16) IABG (G) 136.0 20.5 1,000 Test beds, mechatronics, CAE services 16 (14) Pininfarina (I) 135.02) 135.02) n.a. Full vehicle, project coordination, design, testing 17 (18) Brunel (G) 129.0 31.0 2,000 Electrical/electronics, vehicle testing, powertrain 18 (21) Mahle Powertrain (G) 106.6 106.6 619 Downsizing technology, test and control systems 19 (20) Euro Engineering (G) 104.8 41.9 1,600 Powertrain, interiors, exteriors, suspension 20 (17) Valmet Automotive (FIN) 85.0 85.0 789 Start-up management, roofs, chassis structures 21 (19) IVM Automotive (G) 84.0 84.0 890 Full vehicle, design chassis, interiors 22 (24) RLE (G) 83.0 81.3 950 Full vehicle, electronics, automation, powertrain 23 (22) P+Z Engineering (G) 73.0 66.0 850 Concept realization, simulation, electrical/electronics 24 (–) Applus IDIADA (E) 64.4 64.4 813 Full vehicle, construction, testing 25 (24) IndustrieHansa (G) 61.0 34.2 750 Digital engineering, electronics systems 1) Engineering sales in millions of euros 2) Estimate Automobilwoche Not included: Porsche Engineering (G), Italdesign (I), Lotus Engineering (GB), Ricardo (GB) and Volke (G), No sales data were provided by these companies. Source: Companies/Automotive News Europe-Automobilwoche research

more growth is planned,” Signar- future,” he said. But he too sees good gout said. longer-term prospects “Ultimately, Wolfgang The technical centers in Shang- development work for these kinds Ruecker: He hai, China, and Delhi, India, in par- of cars will bring a further widening sees great ticular, are due to expand in the fu- of the market,” he said. potential for ture, since interest in advanced en- Bertrandt doesn’t plan to build up his company gine concepts is growing in the any special engineering capacity for in vehicle emerging markets it, however. “We will continue to exteriors “Greater importance is especially operate our development work out as well as accorded to the comfort, emissions of Germany or Europe,” Bichler said. interiors. and fuel consumption areas,” the The success of engineering servi- AVL powertrain manager said.. “But ces firms also depends on whether at terms the people there can afford.” they can make themselves attracti- Ruecker expresses greater caution ve to young engineering talent. about China and India.. “We don’t That’s a difficult task, since in this consider these markets to be our race for expertise they are compe- highest priority,” he said. ting most of all with their custo- Ruecker believes it will grow as mers and their internationally climate change becomes ever more known names important.vice providers. The mar- The search for engineers has long ket for more environmentally ceased to be strictly a German phe- friendly vehicles is only just star- nomenon. “In Poland, the Czech Re- ting, he said. public, Slovakia or Romania, engi- Bertrandt’s Bichler is cautious. neers are in just as short supply as “We would first like to see to what here,” Ruecker said. extent this will happen in the Klaus-Dieter Flörecke ■

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Low-cost cars Low-cost cars are on the rise and the industry is taking note

Industry experts the first cars of the species. tor. The gasoline pump and fill level With a price of 5,000 euros in its sensor come from Continental. consider low-cost original Romanian market, it has The low-cost segment is growing been considered Europe’s cheapest at about 5 percent a year, twice as cars one of the car to this point. fast as the overall car market. As a A growing number of high-volu- result, Bosch wants to see revenues most important new me automakers are now involved in of 1 billion euros from products for one low-cost project or another. low-cost cars by 2010. market segments. “Anyone wanting to assert his posi- “It is very important for us to have tion in the world market needs an offe- an early presence in emerging mar- Suppliers are already ring in the low-cost-car segment,” said kets,” said Wolf-Henning Scheider, Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, who is in charge of Bosch’s gasoline profiting. director of the Cen- injection systems business. ter for Auto- The Tata Nano has initially come motive to represent a class by itself, due to n Jan. 10, 2008 its uniquely low price of 100,000 ru- Othe automoti- pees, or 1,700 euros. ve world was loo- Large volumes are planned. Ratan king toward New Tata, the Tata Group’s chairman, Delhi. wants to manufacture 250,000 units The scene was a year of the people’s car. In the me- the excessively warm, dium term, at least 1 million Tata congested Hall 11 of the Auto Nanos are expected to come off pro- Expo in the metropolis on the Indi- Rese- duction lines. an subcontinent. arch at This Indian case of self-driven There the Tata Nano was present- the Univer- growth is just one of many low-cost ed to the public for the first time as sity of Applied examples. More and more high-vo- though it were a Bollywood star. It Basic func- Sciences Gelsen- lume manufacturers are turning to was billed as “the least expensive tion control- kirchen. inexpensive vehicles. car in the world.” ler: Geely, a “Whoever doesn’t get in now on a Under the code-name ULC, Re- The mini-car is considered the Chinese reasonable basis will soon be cha- nault is planning its own cheap car poster child and great hope of a new automaker, sing the trend.” for the Indian market. It will be built auto segment: low-cost cars. is scheduled Industry observers assume that a in cooperation with Indian automa- A new generation of vehicles to use the minimum of 10 million low-cost ker Bajaj Auto and is expected to could turn the auto industry on its Continental cars worldwide will be sold in 2015. cost the equivalent of no more than head: cars for the extremely fast-gro- innovation It’s suppliers who profit from this 1,600 euros. wing markets in developing coun- this year. business most of all. Many major in- Starting in 2011, the subcompact tries such as India or China. These dustry firms are already well posi- is expected to give the Nano some are cars that are very small, techni- tioned in the new markets. competition, with an annual pro- cally straightforward and cheap. The Tata Nano is both global and a duction of 400,000 units initially. In general, vehicles are described product of German industry. Robert Toyota plans to build a low-cost car as low-cost cars when they cost less Bosch, for example, delivered the en- in a new factory in St. Petersburg. The than $10,000, or 7,000 euros. The gine control system and parts for the Russian market is already more im- Dacia Logan is considered one of brake assembly, starter and genera- portant for Toyota than the German

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Low-cost cars

market. Hyundai also plans a cheap Production car for about 2,200 euros for the Chi- for the nese and later the Indian markets. Dacia Logan: The price pressure in the emer- This model ging countries is so enormous that gave many even western automakers aren’t just automakers relying on low-cost products of wes- reason to tern suppliers. They are also sour- contemplate cing parts and systems locally from similar cars. the nation’s own companies. For example, Volkswagen has just announced its collaboration with the Indian supplier Minda Industries (MIL). The company, based in New Delhi, is scheduled to supply head- lights and rear lighting units for future VW models in the Indian market. According to India’s Economic Ti- mes, a financial newspaper, the venture transcends borders. MIL will provide rear lights for a VW model due to be built in Russia. The emerging markets are huge, and so is the competition. In China alone, there are more than 100 car blems resulting from the low-cost designed a completely new engine manufacturers, and there are do- business are not an issue. control system for Tata’s Nano pro- zens in India. But “some of our customers don’t ject at an unbeatable price. To keep up with domestic compa- always apply the same quality de- It’s not just Indian customers who nies in the cost area, suppliers like mands that we do,” said Hans Hiebl, a are benefiting, Scheider said. New Bosch and Continental are develo- Continental executive in Yokohama, developments for low-cost cars ha- ping and producing special, inexpen- Japan. He is responsible for Asian cus- ve been so well conceived that they sive variants of their products locally. tomers in the interior division’s body make savings possible in the manu- Continental has just developed a and security business unit. facture of systems for luxury body control device, a basic func- “But we see an extremely fast lear- brands. tion controller that is due to be used ning curve on the part of the manu- A new study by the business con- in a car from the Chinese automa- facturers.” And if a manufacturer sultancy Roland Berger also conclu- ker Geely this year. asks for a lower price that “neglects des that low-cost development and This device was “designed new quality, we are ready to wait for the production methods have spilled from scratch and isn’t just a slim- learning curve. over into the middle and luxury med-down version of an available Hiebl says Continental makes sure class segments, “changing the enti- product,” said Markus Gentzsch, a its products everywhere adhere to re auto industry.” Continental systems engineer in the same corporate quality standards. The increasingly tough price batt- Shanghai. Executives at Bosch tell the same les and the growing competition Companies can’t arrive in new story. “You have to have local exper- from developing countries are for- markets with tried and true pro- tise on site,” said Scheider, of the cing manufactures to adapt. ducts off the shelf. The needs of lo- company’s unit for gasoline injec- Said Wolfgang Bernhart, an auto- cal manufacturers and especially tion systems. “Early entry into these motive analyst at Roland Berger: their price expectations differ sub- markets is enormously important “The established manufacturers are stantially from those of West Euro- for later success.” coming under ever- increasing pres- pean automakers. Bosch was able to build additio- sure because their rivals in the deve- “You have to be able to address nal development centers in Banga- loping countries are no longer limi- customer desires quickly and flexi- lore, India, and Shanghai, China. ting themselves to the lowest seg- bly,” Gentzsch said. Jointly with the firm’s Stuttgart ments.” For most companies, image pro- development center, they have now Philip Wesselhöft ■

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Standardizing production A system off the rack

Volkswagen and Mercedes are working on standardizing production systems. Their goal: less complexity, more control and lower costs.

Bildunterzei- cessful approaches are being inte- len sldkfjsldf grated as standard, Heizmann said. dasldf. Fruti- For example, Bentley is the com- ger Bold pany’s benchmark on the issue of 9,5pt lskdfj employee training. So this know- döaslkjf how will be rolled out across the alöskdjf alskjf entire VW group. daslfj adsldf. The goal: synchronized production systems that significantly increase productivity. Mercedes also has productivity high on its agenda. Based on its own data, the company has increased productivity in its car factories by 20 percent since 2006. But that’s not enough. In coming years, the Stuttgart-based carmaker still would like to achieve another 10 to 15 percent, depending on the model line. An important step is the estab- lishment of hours-per-vehicle (HPV) metrics for its factories. This will let Mercedes directly compare the performance of factories and model lines, which will s competition increases and Standar- was developed independently. The make it easier to manage efficiency. Araw materials prices rise, auto- dization is approach taken, the processes con- Mercedes looks at five areas: work makers around the world are chan- the key to ceived and the documentation writ- structures, just-in-time solutions, ging processes in their factories. starting up ten was specific to each process. continuous improvement, quality Innovative concepts have been plants faster This is a form of wastefulness, and robust processes, along with ef- designed to boost efficiency and rai- and ramping Heizmann now says. In the future, ficient standardization. se competitiveness. up product- the company wants to start out with In the process, individual issues Volkswagen is a case in point. As a ion quickly. a unified concept. “We only need can’t be considered separate from high-volume manufacturer right in one system, one kit of methods, one each other, but are inter-dependent. the midst of Western Europe’s satura- course of action, and one approach,” Uniform standards in production ted market, the Wolfsburg-based car- the production chief said. and logistics are becoming increasin- maker sees itself facing the task of on- Groups of experts from the VW, gly important for the reduction of ce again boosting the efficiency of its Audi, Seat, Skoda and Bentley complexity, the safeguarding of pro- factories under difficult conditions. brands have been working on a new cesses, and the reduction of costs. “Our goal is to mold the company approach since the end of 2007. Whoever masters this early holds into a synchronous enterprise orien- Three main issues are being taken all the cards. ted toward value,” said Jochem Heiz- into consideration: the creation of That’s because a targeted standar- mann, VW’s production chief. He company-wide implementation sys- dization increases flexibility on a added that he aims to do this by fo- tems; the definition of standards in sustained basis. Factories can be cusing intensely on processes. processes, equipment, infrastructu- constructed more quickly. Also, pro- That requires an advanced pro- re and logistics; and the organiza- duction can be started faster and duction system, Heizmann said. tion and execution of a continuous workers can switch more easily Standardization of processes is key. improvement process. from one job to another. right. Each of VW’s production systems “The brands’ best and most suc- Hilmar Dunker ■

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Car-to-car communication Transportation beyond tomorrow

A German field test is expected to determine whether cars can be made to communicate with each other and with intelligent road signs.

o make driving safer, a field test sights as possible. Tis underway this summer that He said vehicles need to perceive permits cars to communicate with their environment far into the dis- each other and even with traffic tance and with the greatest possible signs and construction cones. detail. That way they can avoid acci- If the large-scale test works out, dents involving fatalities and se- future drivers will be informed rious injuries. about hazards such as accidents, That’s why Continental has deve- traffic jams or one-way streets in loped a radar sensor with a larger real time. The test involves every- angle of aperture and a greater day conditions, outside of fixed range. Similarly, it has improved the laboratory settings. close-range sensors of the proximity In the test, a car already in a traf- regulating radar for its adaptive cru- fic jam is to immediately warn ap- ise control (ACC) system. proaching vehicles, for example. Or New sensors have to simultane- a sign on the roadside informs pas- ously recognize driving lanes and sing cars that there is road work other vehicles, so that emergency around the next curve. braking can be introduced later. The trials are scheduled to last “Object classification is extremely four years. About 500 vehicles from important for the management of the greater Frankfurt area are being pedestrian protection systems,” equipped with sensors and trans- Neumann said. His long-range goal mission technology. is a “car that sees.” The 53-million-euro project has The vehicle becomes a mobile been dubbed “Safe Intelligent Trans- sensor that receives and processes portation – Test Market Germany, or signals from other cars directly or SIM-TD for short. The partners in indirectly through a traffic manage- the project include automakers ment center. Audi, BMW, Daimler, Opel and Volks- The radio network of the future has wagen, along with auto suppliers to be flexible and speak and under- Continental, Bosch and Siemens. stand a number of radio languages. Support is also coming from the Since the range of these systems German research, economy and is a maximum of 500 meters, vehi- transport ministries, as well as cles, traffic lights and guardrails are Deutsche Telekom, the state of Hes- to pass the warning from car to car. se, and the city of Frankfurt. Bettina Mayer ■ SIM-TD is expected to lay “the cornerstone for the introduction of Cars are expected to innovative technologies and make exchange data with other future transportation safer, more ef- road users and traffic signs. ficient and more comfortable,” said Matthias Wissmann, the president of the VDA, the German auto industry association. Continental CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann, hopes that SIM-TD will produce as many in- Photo: Visum

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IT organization Millions in savings

Bavaria-based Webasto, a specialist in auxiliary heating and roof systems, is restructuring and working on the centralization of its IT structure.

ebasto has been forced to batt- pendently from one another on a team from Webasto’s IT area and its Wle the same problem facing decentralized basis. departments. That team has been many other suppliers on the global And the systems kept diverging. No responsible for and has controlled stage. Their IT structures are often ge- adjustments were made for process the central process. Local project ared to local business, with a corres- standards or master data, such as arti- managers in turn secure activities at ponding impact on the organization. cle, supplier or customer master data. company locations. The company, which is based in Versions of the ERP system that were Webasto is now pushing through Stockdorf , just outside Munich, is ac- specific to a country came into use. the harmonization and realignment tive in 50 locations worldwide. Many That ultimately caused data and pro- of its data architecture for 7,000 em- were established as part of joint ven- cess models to drift apart. ployees. tures that were acquired successive- “There was a high risk in this Other European Webasto loca- ly in the 1980s and 1990s. heterogeneity that IT and process tions have followed suit. Asia and “The company structure and thus costs would dramatically rise,” the US are key markets scheduled for the IT structure was organized on Goellnitz said. In addition, this non- this year. The benefits are clear from an extremely decentralized basis as uniform and splintered process the details: The total number of sys- a result,” said Bernd Goellnitz, chief landscape complicated work flows tems is being continuously reduced. information officer at Webasto. on a continuing basis. The same is true for the support for Stand-alone solutions resulted In response, Webasto realigned interfaces. Webasto is turning exten- from an early initiative toward a its strategic objectives in its IT area. sively to SAP for its solutions. unified enterprise resource plan- In the foreground was the reduction Goellnitz expects to save millions ning (ERP) system designed to boost of complexity through the standar- of euros a year. “Beyond that, we are the efficiency of internal processes, Webasto dization of internal process, leading significantly accelerating the inte- according to Goellnitz. roof produc- to lower costs. For that, the maker of gration of new firms and locations The cause: The installations and tion in Portu- auxiliary heating and roof systems worldwide by means of this stan- adjustments were carried out inde- gal: The pilot carried out a complete redesign of dardization,” he said. project was its processes. Eventually process improve- launched A pilot project was launched in ments and innovations will be avai- here. Portugal in 2004. Project name: Ge- lable to all users. The realignment is nesis. It was led by a global project due to be completed by 2011. management group and a joint Hilmar Dunker ■

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Crash-test simulation Colliding with teraflop accuracy

Audi runs one of the 150 fastest computers in the world. It simulates accidents, spots weaknesses and helps negotiate a jungle of test standards.

t’s quiet when Christopher Rhody Audi’s new acquisition works ex- goes through about 100,000 virtual Ilaunches a crash test. No loud noise, tremely efficiently: the 608 compu- crashes on the computer. no broken glass or twisted metal. ters are mounted on eight, two-me- “Depending on the kind of test, The Audi employee, who is in ter-high racks and take up about 30 the ratio of physical to virtual crash charge of side and head protection percent less space than regular tests is between 1:24 and 1:40,” said development, simulates accidents crash simulation computers. Christopher Felber, the Audi spokesman. “That on the computer. And these poweful virtual brains Rhody pro- means there is one ‘true test run’ for A 29 teraflop high-performance are only available to Audi develop- vides sup- every 25 to 40 virtual tests. computer has supported him in this ment engineers for digital experi- port to “For specific crashes, such as pe- work since April. ments. Audi’s engi- destrian protection, the ratio is bet- With the help of increasingly fast Due to efficient cooling, the clus- neers with ween 1:75 and 1:100.” computers, these crash simulations ter cuts energy uses by 25 percent crash simu- A model goes through about can be configured ever more preci- and consumes just 86 kilowatts in- lations. 1,000 simulations a week in its 48- sely and realistically. stead of the usual 115. month development phase. A computer cluster, an assembly of 320 computers, creates more than 15 teraflops of computing output. This corresponds to about 15 trillion computations per second. “The cluster is the fastest computer in the auto industry and even one of the 150 fastest computers worldwide,” explains Eric Felber, an Audi spokesman. “The new high-speed computer accelerates the simulation work- flow several times over.” Due to the steadily increasing range of models, it’s essential “to subject every model to every concei- vable accident situation during the development period,” said Ulrich Widmann, manager of vehicle safety development at Audi. The faster the computer, the more surely and unambiguously the accident can be simulated. There are good reasons for Audi Before the first prototype is even Development engineers underta- to expand its stock of computers built, the virtual cars has already ke about 5,000 simulations a week, to cope with the technological completed more than 100,000 simu- ranging from frontal crashes to spe- challenges of its growing range of lations. cial component tests. As a result, models. It can take from 30 minutes to a they can already recognize and fix Vehicle development today wo- week to have the simulation com- possible weaknesses before the con- uld no longer be possible without puted, depending on the complexi- struction of the first prototype. these comprehensive crash simula- ty of the accident. With crash simulations, it’s possi- tions, due to the automobile’s incre- So when the developers really put ble to do development work close to asing complexity as well as compul- their theories to the test with a real current market conditions, to react sory testing requirements. crash for the first time, the vehicles quickly to customer requirements There are 50 different configura- have already achieved a very high or findings of Audi’s own accident tions just for one front crash. Before safety standard. researches. the first physical crash, a model Bettina Mayer ■

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Automotive News Europe | IZB Supplement 2008 | 47 ANE_IZB_48_Thema16.qxd 10/8/08 4:56 PM Page 48

Seating development More comfort, less weight

Back problems and customers’ increasing demands for comfort are driving the development of car seats. They are becoming high-tech components.

he seat represents the main link geles in 2007. ed for the first time in the SLK Tbetween the vehicle and its oc- Johnson Controls presented anot- in 2004. cupants. “About three quarters of a her materials solution, the “Slim It’s also been an option on the SL body’s surface is in continuous con- Seat” seating concept, at the last since its model upgrade last spring. tact with the seat,” said Andrew Frankfurt auto show. Among other While a ventilation line goes through Leuchtmann, manager, seat deve- things, it offers packaging advanta- the seat up to the headrest in the SLK, lopment, at General Motors Europe. ges for the interior. the blower and heating is entirely “Accordingly, safety and comfort Instead of conventional upholstery, housed in the headrest in the SL. issues are decisively influenced by this seat has a so-called “comfort Two small ventilators take in air the seat,” said the executive, who is shell,” which is manufactured with behind the headrest and direct it responsible for the design of these an injection molding procedure. through an electric heating element. key components at GM worldwide. It requires less foam strength for The air flows out of the headrest Two seating trends – comfort and the same level of comfort, thus and warms the head, neck and thro- ergonomics – are not at all new. But making a leaner, space-saving de- at of the occupants. Driver and pas- with back problems increasing in sign possible. senger individually control the Western Europe, they are becoming Car seats have already become three levels of temperature. more important. high-tech components that may The higher needs for comfort and The new generation of seats in account for up to 12 percent of a safety, however, lead to a vexing sea- the Opel Insignia meets the new re- vehicle’s manufacturing costs. ting issue: weight. quirements with extraordinarily Active ventilation is an example: If fuel consumption and CO2 long adjustment tracks for height Audi has integrated two small venti- emissions are to be reduced, seats and length, orthopedically correct lators in each backrest and cushion will also need to be slimmed down. design, and a backrest that is 2cm that can be adjusted at six levels in This worked for the Opel Insig- thicker than that of its predecessor, the climate-comfort seats of its new nia: High-strength steel is used for the Vectra. Q5 SUV. To handle any excessive the structure of the seat. Concept cars like the Rinspeed eXa- cooling, the Ingolstadt firm incorpo- At the same time, a new produc- sis show that new materials as well as rated an auxiliary heater that auto- tion technology was introduced in bionics-inspired designs are on the matically turns on when needed. which the individual tube-shaped way in the middle- and long-term. Mercedes has furt- pipes of the framework are The concept car, presented for the her developed its pressed flat during as- first time at the Geneva auto show Airscarf headroom sembly, making them in 2007, has seats with a spinal-co- heating system more stable. That made lumn-style skeleton made from Ma- that it present- it possible to reduce the krolon, a fiber composite material. weight by 10 to 15 per- It was developed in cooperation A seat in cent. The bottom line: with Recaro. the Opel This brought a savings of Each of the twelve transparent ribs Insignia is up to 3kg per seat. is spanned with material. There is al- roughly 3kg Alexandra Haack ■ so headrest upholstery made from lighter than transparent gel material. Thanks to a seat in its the floating upholstery, the seat ad- predecessor, justs automatically to the occupants. the Vectra. With its “space up! Blue” concept vehicle, Volkswagen has also turned to a seat that automatically adjusts to individual anatomy. The arm- rests of the four seats in this mini- bus concept consist of so-called Airflow foam. The “space up! Blue” concept was introduced in Los An-

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Roof systems Raising the roof while driving

The roof system of the future will be lighter, more comfortable and safer.

ermany is Western Europe’s big- Ggest convertible market. A total of 138,071 new convertibles and ro- adsters were registered between Flensburg and Füssen. And droptop sales continue to grow, according to new figures from Germany’s federal transport agency. To make sure the trend continues, German roof specialists Edscha, Karmann and Webasto are working on solutions for the next and subsequent model generations. “Based on our estimates, foldaway hard and softtops for various target groups will continue to define the market,” said Holger Schramm, chief developer for roof systems at The develop- fiber components for the mechani- The folding mechanism mixes Osnabrück-based Karmann. ment of roof cal operations of roofs, Baule said. elegance and convenience. When Buyers of models with retractable systems at A main concern is slimming roofs the top is down, the roof is covered hardtops use the car mostly as their Karmann: down, he said. After all, vehicle ma- by the front roof element itself. The- first vehicle and frequently do not Future nufacturers are granting so-called refore, neither a cover nor a cove- have a garage. Looks are decisive. vehicle “kilo bonuses.” ring lid is needed. “In the future, retractable hardtops will Baule sees great prospects for roofs In addition, Edscha is working tops will become less complex and be lighter. that open during driving as well as with Ident Technology to develop thus less susceptible to malfunc- for combinations of folding and sli- contact-less anti-pinch protection tions,” said Schramm, describing an ding roofs, as can be seen on the Mi- for folding tops. It could go into pro- important trend for both roof types. ni convertible and the VW Eos . duction as early as 2010. Edscha ar- “For cloth tops, we are mainly Comfort issues are in the fore- gues that this would especially ma- working on multicolor textiles as ground at Remscheid-based Edscha. ke four-seat convertibles apprecia- well as on textiles with a structure, For example, the 2.2-meter fabric bly safer, in particular when chil- so that a visually interesting high- top on the new Audi A3 convertible dren are occupying the backseats. low effect results.” opens in just nine seconds. Component manufacturers are All roof specialists are tackling “The world record is this order of showing that movable roof szstems the issue of saving weight. The first magnitude,” said Michael Altmeyer, no longer suffer from lack of tight- pre-development work with carbon the company’s sales chief for con- ness, bad heat insulation, and high fiber composite materials is under- vertible systems. noise levels. way at Karmann. Multi-layered softtops have alrea- At the Geneva Motor Show in dy been developed that surpass fi- March, Webasto introduced its Roof assem- xed roofs in heat insulation. LigHT convertible concept: a roof bly: Both There is hardly any difference in system made from paper honey- retractable acoustics as well. For example, the comb with a heatable rear window hardtops noise level in the interior of the new made from polycarbonate. and soft- Audi A3 convertible at 140kph is The reactions to the innovative tops will be just one decibel louder than in the lightweight roof were “surprisingly offered closed A3 compact car. positive,” a Webasto official said. to the In the future, it is generally belie- “The system weighs less than 20 market in ved that softtops will primarily be kilos as a mechanically operable the future. equipped with relatively large rear top,” said Ralph-Peter Baule, global windows, mostly made from plas- vice president for convertibles at tics like polycarbonate. That would the Stockdorf company in Bavaria. improve the rear view. Webasto is also developing carbon Jürgen Pander ■

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Driver assistance Cars are learning to think ahead

With greater safety and more comfort, electronic aides are helping drivers. By 2010, a device could even be able to take over in an emergency at a junction.

bout 76 percent of all traffic ac- wide coverage gathers additional A warning signal lights up on the Acidents can be traced back to image data. The information is syn- instrument panel when a picture driver error. chronized every 40 milliseconds. corresponds to a stored traffic sign. That was one finding of the When the system calculations “In our work with Opel Eye, we “2010 Intelligent Car Initiative” pro- predict a critical situation, it has to have been able to further develop ject group of the European Com- be independently verified by all the the system’s capabilities,” said mission’s research center. data records. Only then, and after a Christoph Schmidt, manager of As a result, assistance systems, warning, will the system trigger the electronics development for the In- which take the burden off drivers, automatic emergency braking. signia. warn about dangers or even interve- Traffic sign recognition is optio- “For example, autobahn lanes in ne when necessary, contribute to nal on the Opel Insig- Germany have different speed li- greater vehicle safety. nia and the new mits, and the camera system is capa- Thanks to ABS and ESP sensors, BMW 7 Se- ble of reliably recognizing the cor- cars recognize potential driving er- ries. Opel rect one in each case.” rors today. With the help of radar and camera systems, they have the ability to see. Soon, they will even be able to communicate with one another using wireless LAN technology. By mid 2010, a research initiative, Adaptive and Cooperative Techno- logies for Intelligent Transporta- tion, or Aktiv, plans to develop more advanced assistance systems to market readiness. Among other innovations, an intersection assistant should be developed over four years of research. It is designed to aid drivers as they negotiate intersections and is even supposed to intervene if necessary. Lane depar- calls its system the “Opel Eye.” It Besides the assistance systems de- “In this way, we hope to reduce ture aides was developed in cooperation with voted to driving safety, there are the number of traffic accidents, and, warn drivers Hella. others such as windshield wipers despite increased traffic growth, to about inad- Not only does it read speed limit with rain sensors, automatically ac- maintain traffic flow,” said Eber- vertent lane and no-passing signs, but it can also tivated low beams, and parking hard Hipp, Aktiv’s coordinator. A changes. recognize when the prohibitions aids. total of 29 organisations are taking are lifted. The latter automatically recogni- part in the project, which the Ger- A high resolution, wide-angle ca- ze right-sized spaces on the roadsi- man economics ministry is suppor- mera on the front windshield de. In some systems, the driver re- ting with 15 million euros. shoots 30 pictures per second. They ceives information on the display Automatic emergency braking is are evaluated with two signal pro- on how hard he has to turn the already set for regular production. cessors and with software. wheel. For example, the Lexus LS 460 is Depending on the light situation, French supplier Valeo developed equipped with it. the system starts recognizing signs a half-automatic “Park4U” parking And supplier TRW is currently and reading them multiple times at aid. Starting in 2009, it will find its working on an affordable radar a distance of 100 meters. way into still smaller spaces than with a range of up to 150 meters. Round structures are sought initi- current systems do (40cm fore and The radar’s reach is long-range ally, and the numbers inside are aft are required) and soon will pull but narrow. So a video camera with identified by comparing contours. out by itself. Alexandra Haack ■

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Women in the industry Women tackling technology

Women engineers are very much in demand in the auto industry, but are still a minority. Stefanie Ulrich would find a female quota of 20 percent helpful.

or years, numerous campaigns schedules, including telecommuting, industry, she said. Fhave tried to attract young wo- part-time work or sabbatical leaves. “The number of our female custo- men to male-dominated profes- Women aiming for a career in the mers in the Mercedes-Benz and sions. “The success has been mo- auto industry absolutely need a Smart area continues to grow, said dest,” said sociology professor Beate strong technical background, per- Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche. ”We Krais of Germany’s Darmstadt Uni- sonnel executives say. And even are grooming women with technical versity of Technology. then, for most female engineers, and scientific training,” he added. As part of a study in late 2006, that just means struggling through. Ford and Volkswagen are also in- Krais surveyed nearly 9,000 male “Even in 2008, a female engineer vesting in their female staff. The and female graduates in enginee- remains an exception in a man’s automakers have introduced men- ring as well as the chemistry, phy- world,” said Rita Forst, toring programs where women can sics and information technology. executive direc- regularly share information. The results: Women are less suc- tor for product In addition, regular meetings of cessful than men in technology and engineer- female executives take place, some- natural science professions, in- ing at GM times on a global level. dependent of age, economic Global supplier Bosch also is sector, university degree using company quota of technologi- and qualifications. cally-oriented women to achieve its Women’s careers de- goals of getting more wome- velop more slowly and ne into its work force. . stagnate earlier, Krais “In leadership posi- found. And women tions as well, our sha- aren’t integrated as re of women is to be well as men in the bu- increased on a sus- siness or promoted to tained basis,” said the same extent. Sabine Zahnert, per- Stefanie Ulrich, ma- sonnel consultant at naging director for per- Bosch in Stuttgart. sonnel at Audi’s Brussels factory, con- About 80 percent of Bo- siders quota for women to be a tool sch’s newly hired university that could prove effective. graduates are engineers and scien- “We are aiming for a share of 20 tists. percent in our hiring of trainees,” Powertrain Europe. In any case, the share of women is Ulrich said. Studies show that such “It will take years to rise, Zahnert said. “At Bosch, groo- a share of women can have a highly to change that, if we ming women isn’t a program. It’s a positive effect on a group. That’s not ever are going to actual- mindset.” an insignificant factor, says Ulrich, ly have an equally high A large number of women me- as building cars invariably involves share of women.” anwhile have started to become in- teamwork. Cristina Siletto, a Fiat engineer, volved in networks to counter the In mid-2008, the share of women can only agree. “Mostly, society and male-dominated corporate and was just 12.1 percent. But thanks to Personnel the women’s families motivate work culture. appropriate measures, it has risen expert them to pursue studies in the arts One German network is Femtec 30.5 percent in the last 10 years. Stefanie more often than they inspire them in Berlin, where women in enginee- Audi sponsors nurseries and spots Ulrich is to study technical subjects.” ring and scientific professions have in kindergartens specifically for responsible There are still too few women organized. Bosch, Daimler and Por- children of Audi employees. The for 6,000 venturing into engineering studies, sche support Femtec. But there is al- carmaker also facilitates re-entry workers at said Ulrich, the Audi personnel exe- so a global women’s network, the into the workforce up to seven Audi’s Brus- cutive. In the meantime, women International Network of Women years after a child’s birth. sels factory. with the right expertise have extre- Engineers and Scientists (INWES). Audi offers various kinds of work mely good opportunities in the auto Bettina Mayer ■

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Software re-engineering Rapid response in the data flood

As years pass, software packages can become extremely confused. Daimler’s software specialists are re-engineering the source.

lectronics and software are es- in a car, you would end up with a process, the source code is investi- Esential to the modern vehicle. specifications document filling up gated with special analysis pro- As a result, Software specialists in to 500 packed binders. grams to uncover errors and incon- Daimler’s research area go into ac- Once you consider that nearly all sistencies. tion with their teams if there is an control units or controllers in wha- This procedure can be compared unexpected problem with software tever form communicate with one to a formal text analysis. A text, in electronic control units in the de- another, it becomes clear that in- such as a cooking recipe, can be velopment of a new vehicle model. consistencies can occur again and written in various ways and with The origins of the electronic “fire” again during a vehicle’s develop- various words. But for all the des- to which these experts from the ment phase. criptions, there are applicable gram- advanced development area res- “Most control units are developed mar and spelling rules. pond can be innocuous disturban- and produced along with their soft- In today’s word processing pro- ces in the control unit of a telema- ware by specialized suppliers based grams, such functions are already tics system. on guidelines from the automaker,” integrated for the most part. They The screen might only form line Mercedes a source at Daimler said. indicate spelling and syntax errors by line in a time loop in the naviga- trucks: The For software that is especially cri- to the user or even correct them. tion mode. Or it might suddenly fail electronics tical from a competitive standpoint, Code analysis programs function when the telephone is activated. vary greatly however, Daimler develops the ap- similarly, although the details are But more serious failures can also from model propriate source code itself. One considerably more complicated. emerge. In certain circumstances, to model. example would be software for a po- The software checkers have the they can affect engine controls or wertrain. source code run through various co- transmission management. Code or software analysis is one de analysis programs. If you were to express the require- approach to detect possible weak These programs recognize unam- ments profile of all the control units points in the control unit. In this biguous errors, such as division by zero, as well as program components that have not been executed, or incorrect storage access. At the conclusion of code analysis, a list of all the errors and incon- sistencies that were discovered is available. With its help, the specialists next begin to correct the errors. As a rule, the automaker does not do this on its own. It gives the supplier’s software developers direction for fixing the mistakes. In practice, that seems to be the case so frequently that the Daimler code analysts go on site at the res- pective supplier for a few days. The- re they investigate source codes with their so-called fire-fighting software and announce their re- commendations. In the process, the code itself always stays with the supplier, since the particular software for the control unit is its intellectual property. With code analysis, the program,

56 | Automotive News Europe | IZB Supplement 2008 ANE_IZB_56-57_Q_Daimler.qxd 10/8/08 4:55 PM Page 57

Software re-engineering

wheel revolutions. Eventually the experts decided there was reason enough to unlace the software package and restruc- ture it. For one thing, the DSR software introduced in the Actros in 1987 had grown over the years and needed to be reorganized so it could be maintained and expanded more ef- fectively The goals were a greater, cost-effective internal re-use of the software, the reduction of failure risk and faster expansion into new, additional functions. Another concern was that the commercial vehicle developers wanted another supplier, and they wanted to make the expertise available to the firm in a clearly structu- red way. “With this kind of software restructuring, we really don’t want to re-invent the wheel, but rather carry over proven algorithms in a sus- tainable form and document them in a way that is understandable for meaning the source code, is merely produced, a code analysis of this ex- new employees,” a software specia- examined and not run through a Specialists tremely extensive software was nee- list said. text procedure. during ded. The causes were found and The differential slip controller Since functionality tests cannot analysis: fixed in the course of running it. shows that the researchers’ work detect every possible error combi- Production If the software keeps being re-de- has fallen on fertile ground among nation, the code analysis is also exe- software is veloped over the years, this organic their colleagues. cuted to localize the source of the separated growth often has the result of gra- According to Daimler, the help of error. into small, dually making it confusing, Daim- software experts in the research In any case, the software has to be compre- ler experts say. area has made it possible to separate error-free. With code analysis, the hensible The software does still function current production software into experts therefore only have latitude parts. to a great degree, but no-longer-nee- small, clearly comprehensible parts. on the issue of how precisely the ded algorithms are dragged along That in turn makes it possible for formal rules have to be adhered to. and inexplicable errors come up. the software specialists to concen- This question was posed in the ca- New employees find the original trate on the core of the application, se of a common powertrain control- source code barely comprehensible. namely function development, ler (CPC). This is a control unit that The result: at some point, new irrespective of the hardware. is used in light and heavy trucks functions can no longer be integra- The goal of the researchers is to and buses. ted without errors occurring. create cleaner software architectu- Since commercial vehicles rarely In cases like this, code analysis res through re-engineering. So far, resemble one another and thus the along no longer is much help, and such program restructuring has electronics vary greatly, a CPC has Daimler’s researchers get busy with mostly occurred at a late stage, whe- to be able to picture numerous vari- so-called software reengineering, re the structures are already very ations. Nonetheless, it has to com- meaning the reorganization of the confused and take a heavy toll of municate reliably with the approxi- entire program. time and on staff. mately 30 other commercial vehicle One example of this is the electro- As a result, the software teams oc- control units. nic differential slip controller (DSR) cupied with software structures are “Runtime errors kept occurring, found on buses and Mercedes-Benz also working on ways of automa- and in these cases we did not know trucks, including Atego, Axor and ting the re-engineering at least to where and when the errors were Actros. With the help of the DSR, some degree. To the experts, the ide- caused,” one of the software specia- the axle burden distribution is cal- al would be software restructuring lists at Daimler recalled. culated and the braking power is at the push of a button. Since the errors could not be re- optimally distributed, based on Klaus-Dieter Flörecke ■

Automotive News Europe | IZB Supplement 2008 |57 ▲ ccording to a BMW spokesman, ven BMW, the strongest advoca- the ven BMW, t’s rather unlikely that this They would not have to leave not have They would And they can drive their car 150 The argument has a small flaw, I continues to The breakthrough with the exception of So far, E A The extra charge for run-flats on conscious drivers. conscious flat if they had their car in case of a is especially an the new tires. This puncture oc- advantage when the in a remote curs on a dark night area, and rain is pattering against their car’s windshield. km on a run-flat even after a full be loss of tire pressure. That should to reach a tire dealer or re- enough pair shop. driver on Ger- however: the average man roads has a flat tire every 100,000 to 150,000 miles, or roughly every 10 years. occur at exactly the moment would when circumstances were the least favorable. elude run-flat technology because been inclined automakers haven’t to use it in large volumes. The futu- only be se- re of run-flat tires could cured with their use as original equipment across the board. are doing wi- all automakers BMW, run-flats as standard equip- thout ment. Instead, they offer tires with run-flat characteristics as an option on individual models, for a steep surcharge. te for run-flat technology among automakers, is not consistent in its usage of the technology. run-flats are in fact “an important the But aspect of customer safety.” large 5 and 7 Series don’t company’s offer the supplementary safety feature as standard equipment. In addition, the Mini One and the Mini Cooper only offer run-flats at extra cost. hen they reached the market hen they reached the the pre- earlier this decade, ctually, forecasts still see growth ctually, oland Berger’s consultants were orldwide, run-flats had a market BMW was the first automaker to BMW was the first R These forecasts look like they they are offered by ne- Although In a wide-ranging market evalua- The enthusiasm is increasingly A The arguments that were suppo- dictions were that run-flats would dictions were that triumphal make a phenomenal, the industry. march through introduce them on regular production models, putting them on its Z8 in 2000. the technolo- so enthusiastic about gy that they forecast that tires with have run-flat characteristics would a car market share of 80 percent by was even more eu- Power 2013. J.D. phoric: its experts likwise projected an 80 percent market share, but in their case by 2010. to be nothing more will turn out tires haven’t Run-flat than hot air. or caught on, either in Germany worldwide. arly all manufacturers, run-flats are a sideshow eight years after their in- consultants no troduction. Today chance of ma- longer give them any king a breakthrough. Consulting Group tion, the Notch has come to the conclusion that run-flat tires will remain “a niche specialty with small market volumes within a large tire industry.” giving way to disillusionment. W share of less than 0.5 percent in 2006. The figure for passenger vehicles was 0.7 percent. for run-flats, but at a very low level. be 1 per- Their market share could cent in 2010 and a little more than 2 percent in 2025, according to Notch Consulting’s tire analysts. sed to win customers over to good to security- run-flats sounded W Automotive News Europe | IZB Supplement 2008

58 | Air goes out of run-flat tires of run-flat out goes Air disappointment is high, and now the industry were the tire The hopes of made the breakthrough. haven’t simply tires Run-flat that much greater. Run-flat tires Run-flat ht:DDP Photo: ANE_IZB_58-60_Reifen.qxd 10/8/08 5:09 PM Page 58 Page PM 5:09 10/8/08 ANE_IZB_58-60_Reifen.qxd ANE_IZB_58-60_Reifen.qxd 10/8/08 5:09 PM Page 60

Run-flat tires

a BMW 520i is between 510 and 2,550 euros. This leads to a curious Fighting situation: on the one hand, a 1 Series flats: Thanks owner is able to keep driving on a to reinforced flat tire. On the other, if he chooses tire walls, not to pay the extra charge, a busi- the driver nessman in a 5 Series has to head reaches the out into the rain and get his jack. next repair BMW has a reason for not offe- shop. ring run-flats on the 5 Series and 7 Series: with their reinforced sides, they make the vehicle’s ride less comfortable than conventional tires do. A study from the Eindhoven Uni- versity of Technology confirms this: The damage was apparently cau- ries, said Peter Drust of ASA, the “On uneven road surfaces the ride sed during mounting and removal. national association of manufactu- comfort will get worse and in parti- It can lead to dramatic results. After rers and importers of automotive cular the dynamic loads on suspen- a mounting error, one safety tire ex- service equipment. sion components and vehicle body ploded at 240kmh. But so far, BMW is staying with will increase significantly,” says Igo If the tires aren’t mounted proper- them. Michelin, on the other hand, Besselink, a researcher at the uni- ly, the gain in safety quickly gives doesn’t see a future for this design of versity. way to increased risk. tires. But high prices and inadequate To get this dangerous problem For years, the French firm has comfort are not the biggest pro- under control, representatives of ti- been touting its PAX system as an al- blems with the new technology. re producers, retailers and automa- ternative to run-flats. The mounting of the reinforced kers teamed up and drafted a guide That has come to an end. Miche- tires is complicated and replete for mounting run-flats and ultra lin has announced it is no longer with potential problems. When a high performance tires. It is 59 pa- continuing to develop PAX. “The motor vehicle expert examined ges long, and contains a 31-page market demand is insufficient to mounted run-flat tires for damage, supplement. justify the costs,” said Philippe his conclusions were frightening: Due to the mounting problem, Denimal, Michelin’s development just three out of the 50 tires that we- BMW has already thought about director. re investigated were undamaged. pulling run-flats from its regular se- Matthias Karpstein ■

Global sales of run-flat tires

. . . . .

24% $340,000,000 Passenger car tire replacements in Germany Bridgestone (in millions) 13% Unit sales of run-flat tires Total tire sales 41% $180,000,000 $575,000,000 Continental Goodyear/ 10% . . . . . Sumitomo Industries $140,000,000 Pirelli 4% 8% International market growth $55,000,000 $110,000,000 Market share of run-flat tires in % other suppliers Michelin group Estimate Source: Notch

$4 billion worth of run-flat tires were sold Sales of run-flat tires are slow in the German market globally in 2006. as well as globally.

60 | Automotive News Europe | IZB Supplement 2008 ANE_IZB_62_Tüv.qxd 10/8/08 4:54 PM Page 62

Simulation technology New facility is engineers’ dream

A 350-ton test bed that is unique in Europe has been delivering precise error analysis since September, allowing vehicle developers to sleep better.

t is a situation that has reduced results of the analysis can come Ithousands of engineers around back within a day. The DCS can the world to despair. Every compo- “The time factor plays an enor- isolate each nent of the prototype satisfies the mous role in increasingly short de- of the many demands and requirements of the velopment times,” Resch said. factors that specifications document, yet its dri- The DCS is as impressive for its affect chassis ving behavior doesn’t meet their lof- scale as it is for its capabilities. The component ty expectations. facility is mounted upon a pneuma- performance. The individual components cause tically raised mass damper weigh- operating problems apparently for ting 350 tons. the first time when integrated into About 1,800 liters of oil are kept the system, or more precisely, in- circulating with a pump output of stalled into a vehicle. 350 kilowatts. The examples might be creaking Previously, vehicle developers sounds from the anti-roll bar moun- and automakers had to carry out the ting or unsatisfactory handling or appropriate tests to some extent on comfort. However, a new test bed various full, half or quarter-vehicle may come to the aid of long-suffe- test beds. ring engineers. In one case, the DCS quickly At TÜV SÜD Automotive in Gar- found the source of a prototype’s ill- ching, the Dynamic Chassis Simula- omened creaking. “In its installed The simulator tor (DCS) has been operating since condition, a shock absorber makes a reproduces September. grating sound because the piston forces individ- For the first time, quick, precise rod in the upper starts to swing,” ually or conclusions about the street-chas- Resch said. together: sis-body causation chain are possi- Previously, the developers had vertical, ble at one facility. The test bed is tested the shock absorber only arti- horizontal unique in Europe. ficially, meaning as an individual and corner- “It involves a characteristics and component in a dismantled state. ing, for analysis test bed that permits the Bettina Mayer ■ example. exact breakdown of individual driving maneuvers. It’s therefore not a durability test bed,” explains Stefan Resch, the DCS project manager at TÜV SÜD Automotive. Developers can now tackle complicated, detailed problems through the abatement of specific dimen- sions: in the case of driving around a curve, engineers can isolate individual directions of force or even eli- minate them. The chassis simulator also makes individual tests of various components obsolete, and, in contrast with work on test tracks, all tests are reproducible at any time on the test bed. The time savings are likely to be just as important: a car is ready for the test in three days, and the first

62 | Automotive News Europe | IZB Supplement 2008