EL SEGUNDO, USA: The European Union (EU) and the European Commission (EC) have adopted the admirable goal of cutting the number of deaths on the region’s roads seen in 2001 in half by 2010.
But despite Europe’s aggressive initiatives that include the use of promising Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), this lofty goal is unlikely to hit its target, according to iSuppli Corp.
“The European Union in 2001 experienced 1,300,000 accidents, resulting in 1,700,000 injuries and 40,000 deaths,” observed Jeremy Carlson, researcher for ADAS and EMEA automotive at iSuppli. “Europe’s efforts up to this point have resulted in a 27 percent decrease in road deaths in 2008, which is certainly a noteworthy achievement. However, given the drawn-out EU decision process, the lengthy automotive product life cycle, and the fact that the only ADAS safety technology currently mandated is Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Europe is unlikely to reach this target.”
The EU and the EC have been active in proposing new initiatives to help accomplish its goal. Involving every entity from national governments to public authorities and private enterprises, the EC sought to bring together the individual stakeholders in order to share ideas and best practices, and to instill a sense of shared responsibility in this life-saving goal.
Many of these initiatives and discussions involve ADAS technologies, which include ultrasonic and camera park-assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and blind-spot detection systems.
European road safety charter
First among these initiatives is the European Road Safety Charter. The charter is the largest existing road safety platform, encompassing all 27 EU member states and including more than 1,100 public authorities and private entities as signatories. The charter invites public and private organizations to specifically and actively contribute to the realization of Europe’s auto safety goal.
Among the Charter’s efforts is encouraging the adoption of proven ADAS safety technologies.
Unfortunately, many safety technologies such as adaptive cruise control and blind-spot detection systems have not had the luxury of time and widespread availability to sufficiently prove they can reduce accidents or deaths.
As a result, many of these new ADAS solutions are relegated to research while the tried-and-true technologies such as seat belts and airbags find their way to the legislative front.
Currently, the European Road Safety Charter is pursuing a requirement for seat-belt reminders in passenger vehicles and now requires that all heavy goods vehicles be equipped with blind-spot mirrors on the passenger side to help protect bikers and pedestrians. The requirement of these side-object detection systems by the EC acknowledges the importance of blind-spot safety and could lead to the consideration of radar- and camera-based detection and recognition systems in the future.
The EC also has nominated driver monitoring, collision avoidance and mitigation, pedestrian protection, and visibility systems such as night vision as potential candidates for worthwhile research.
Roads, cars get smart
The Charter and other European initiatives involve the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The proposals could also lead to more navigation-enabled ADAS systems that benefit from mindfully-designed roadways.
Furthermore, the EC’s Intelligent Car Initiative formed in February 2006 was conceived to advance the use of intelligent technologies in automobiles to help make them smarter, safer and cleaner. Naturally, this initiative works side by side with the Charter to help achieve Europe’s goal, although it was not designed specifically for that purpose.
The Intelligent Car Initiative includes the eSafety Forum, which aims to accelerate the development and deployment of intelligent information and communication technologies by building consensus among industry stakeholders.
The latest research agenda from the eSafety Forum included insight into ADAS technologies, including collision avoidance. As a directive for future research and development, the results indicate that current collision mitigation systems should evolve into full-collision-avoidance systems with a focus on reducing costs for deployment in small- and medium-sized cars, although it provides no specific action to reach that goal.
Showing posts with label automotive electronics systems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label automotive electronics systems. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Incentives soften auto downturn in Western Europe
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Although the Western European auto industry has been hit hard by the worldwide recession, with first-quarter sales declining by 16.3 percent compared to a year earlier, government stimulus packages in Germany and France are mitigating the downturn in those nations, according to iSuppli Corp.
For all of 2009, Western European sales are expected to fall by 16.7 percent. However, as the economy recovers, regional auto sales are projected to increase slowly starting in 2010 and will return to nearly the 2008 sales level by 2014.
“Because automotive is among the most important of European industries—perhaps the most important—many governments have passed stimulus packages to help stabilize their auto markets during the recession,” said Egil Juliussen, principal analyst and fellow for automotive electronics at iSuppli.
“The most popular stimulus is the so-called scrappage incentive that gives buyers of new cars a discount if they trade in old cars that generate more air pollution than new, cleaner vehicles, Juliussen added. The results are encouraging—particularly in Germany.
Germany’s incentive of 2,500 euros for a new car commenced in mid January and immediately impacted sales. The nation’s auto sales increased by nearly 17 percent in February, jumped by 40 percent in March and grew by another 18 percent in April, compared to the same months in 2008.
France’s incentive, which started in December, 2008, was much smaller at 1,000 euros, so its impact was somewhat lessened compared to Germany. First-quarter auto sales in France declined by 3.9 percent compared to the same period in 2008, which is actually a relatively strong performance compared to overall double-digit decline in Western Europe.
When viewed in its totality, Western Europe is the largest auto production region in the world. Western Europe is a net exporter of autos.
This makes it auto making a critically important industry for the region, prompting some governments to take action to shore up sales.
Economy puts brakes on auto production
Auto production in Western Europe in 2009 is falling at an even faster rate than sales. This is due to lower exports, decreased sales in Europe and an overhang in inventory from 2008.
Auto production in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 dropped by 46 percent in France, 33 percent in Germany, 40 percent in Italy and more than 50 percent in the United Kingdom. The result has been a terrible first quarter for automotive electronics suppliers because their sales depend on auto production.
The good news is that the first quarter of 2009 was most likely the bottom of the downturn for Europe and auto production declines will be smaller in the remaining quarters of 2009.
The figure gives more perspective on this recession and the aftermath summarizing iSuppli’s estimate of the auto electronics recovery in Western Europe.
iSuppli: Relative Yearly Unit Sales Western Europe for Autos and Major Car Electronics Categories (Numbers Normalized to 100 for 2008 Auto Sales)
Source: iSuppli Corp., June 2009
The figure shows relative yearly sales for several electronics categories compared to 2008 auto sales which have been normalized to 100. The electronics categories are head-units, in-vehicle navigation, the Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS), embedded telematics and the Bluetooth-based handsfree interface. The sales pattern is similar for most categories, with a decline in 2009 and growth returning in the following years.
The only area to rise in 2009 will be ADAS, which will manage a slight sales increase in 2009. ADAS consists of ultrasonic and camera park assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and blind spot detection systems.
Embedded telematics system sales have remained low in Europe and are waiting for the eCall mandate to be settled. eCall is a European Union Commission initiative and will need to undergo legislative processes that would take an average of 18 months for it to become an EU regulation—once it is submitted. Due to several contentious aspect of the eCall initiative, there is not yet an agreement, even after more than two years of discussions.
Hence, it looks like the eCall initiative is unlikely to become a mandate until 2011 or possibly later. The result is that the embedded telematics market will not take off for another two or three years in Europe.
Telematics services using the driver’s phone is doing better in Europe as Bluetooth-based hands-free interface systems are growing in importance. All major auto manufacturers offer such HFI systems on some or all of their models and their sales will continue to grow.
For all of 2009, Western European sales are expected to fall by 16.7 percent. However, as the economy recovers, regional auto sales are projected to increase slowly starting in 2010 and will return to nearly the 2008 sales level by 2014.
“Because automotive is among the most important of European industries—perhaps the most important—many governments have passed stimulus packages to help stabilize their auto markets during the recession,” said Egil Juliussen, principal analyst and fellow for automotive electronics at iSuppli.
“The most popular stimulus is the so-called scrappage incentive that gives buyers of new cars a discount if they trade in old cars that generate more air pollution than new, cleaner vehicles, Juliussen added. The results are encouraging—particularly in Germany.
Germany’s incentive of 2,500 euros for a new car commenced in mid January and immediately impacted sales. The nation’s auto sales increased by nearly 17 percent in February, jumped by 40 percent in March and grew by another 18 percent in April, compared to the same months in 2008.
France’s incentive, which started in December, 2008, was much smaller at 1,000 euros, so its impact was somewhat lessened compared to Germany. First-quarter auto sales in France declined by 3.9 percent compared to the same period in 2008, which is actually a relatively strong performance compared to overall double-digit decline in Western Europe.
When viewed in its totality, Western Europe is the largest auto production region in the world. Western Europe is a net exporter of autos.
This makes it auto making a critically important industry for the region, prompting some governments to take action to shore up sales.
Economy puts brakes on auto production
Auto production in Western Europe in 2009 is falling at an even faster rate than sales. This is due to lower exports, decreased sales in Europe and an overhang in inventory from 2008.
Auto production in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 dropped by 46 percent in France, 33 percent in Germany, 40 percent in Italy and more than 50 percent in the United Kingdom. The result has been a terrible first quarter for automotive electronics suppliers because their sales depend on auto production.
The good news is that the first quarter of 2009 was most likely the bottom of the downturn for Europe and auto production declines will be smaller in the remaining quarters of 2009.
The figure gives more perspective on this recession and the aftermath summarizing iSuppli’s estimate of the auto electronics recovery in Western Europe.
iSuppli: Relative Yearly Unit Sales Western Europe for Autos and Major Car Electronics Categories (Numbers Normalized to 100 for 2008 Auto Sales)
Source: iSuppli Corp., June 2009The figure shows relative yearly sales for several electronics categories compared to 2008 auto sales which have been normalized to 100. The electronics categories are head-units, in-vehicle navigation, the Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS), embedded telematics and the Bluetooth-based handsfree interface. The sales pattern is similar for most categories, with a decline in 2009 and growth returning in the following years.
The only area to rise in 2009 will be ADAS, which will manage a slight sales increase in 2009. ADAS consists of ultrasonic and camera park assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and blind spot detection systems.
Embedded telematics system sales have remained low in Europe and are waiting for the eCall mandate to be settled. eCall is a European Union Commission initiative and will need to undergo legislative processes that would take an average of 18 months for it to become an EU regulation—once it is submitted. Due to several contentious aspect of the eCall initiative, there is not yet an agreement, even after more than two years of discussions.
Hence, it looks like the eCall initiative is unlikely to become a mandate until 2011 or possibly later. The result is that the embedded telematics market will not take off for another two or three years in Europe.
Telematics services using the driver’s phone is doing better in Europe as Bluetooth-based hands-free interface systems are growing in importance. All major auto manufacturers offer such HFI systems on some or all of their models and their sales will continue to grow.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Auto electronics market will take until 2011 to recover
BOSTON, USA: The Strategy Analytics Automotive Electronics service report, “Automotive Electronics System Demand Forecast 2007 to 2016: Tough Times, But Future Gains,” predicts that the market for automotive electronics will take until 2011 to exceed 2007’s peak.
The global banking crisis and subsequent recessions in many major markets has resulted in a crash in vehicle production and sales. This has led Strategy Analytics to forecast a 15 percent fall in the value of automotive electronics systems installed in light vehicles in 2009, down to $126 billion, which follows the 3 percent fall in 2008.
“Despite the steep decline in vehicle production, the underlying fundamentals of the automotive electronics industry are arguably stronger than they have ever been,” argues Ian Riches, Director Global Automotive Practice. “Increased electronics penetration is the only realistic way that the industry can meet future environmental and safety requirements,” he added.
“Although the short term outlook is bleak, there are significant opportunities for automotive electronics vendors in the medium and longer term,” commented Chris Webber, Vice President, Global Automotive Practice. “Demand for powertrain electronics systems is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5 percent over the period 2008 to 2013, as OEMs strive to improve vehicle fuel economy,” he added.
The global banking crisis and subsequent recessions in many major markets has resulted in a crash in vehicle production and sales. This has led Strategy Analytics to forecast a 15 percent fall in the value of automotive electronics systems installed in light vehicles in 2009, down to $126 billion, which follows the 3 percent fall in 2008.
“Despite the steep decline in vehicle production, the underlying fundamentals of the automotive electronics industry are arguably stronger than they have ever been,” argues Ian Riches, Director Global Automotive Practice. “Increased electronics penetration is the only realistic way that the industry can meet future environmental and safety requirements,” he added.
“Although the short term outlook is bleak, there are significant opportunities for automotive electronics vendors in the medium and longer term,” commented Chris Webber, Vice President, Global Automotive Practice. “Demand for powertrain electronics systems is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5 percent over the period 2008 to 2013, as OEMs strive to improve vehicle fuel economy,” he added.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
