Continental Announces localisation of ABS and ESC system production

[caption id="attachment_2117" align="alignnone" width="2362"] Passenger car ABS and ESC will be produced locally at the Continental plant in Gurgaon.[/caption]

As the Indian Population is understanding the importance of vehicle safety systems, the demand for vehicles equipped with airbags, Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is increasing rapidly. The Chassis & Safety division of the international automotive supplier Continental will start production of ABS and ESC systems in India by this year.

The assembly line for these units will be setup in Gurgaon, Haryana. In the initial stages only passenger cars ABS and ESC systems will be produced. The two-wheeler ABS unit will be produced later on.

In 2018, Company is also planning to start another assembly line in Bangalore, and targeting to deliver its first localised ABS/ESC units by the end of 2016 to the leading vehicle manufacturer.

Felix Bietenbeck, Head of Continental's Business unit Vehicle Dynamics said, “The Indian market is one of the world’s largest markets for compact cars and two-wheelers. By producing these systems in the market, for the market, we are matching our portfolio to the requirements of our local customers, while keeping our technologies affordable"

Claude d’Gama Rose, Managing Director, Continental Automotive Components India commented, “India tops the list of nations in total number of road fatalities. The widespread use of ABS, airbags and ESC in vehicles can contribute considerably to reducing the number of serious injuries and fatalities on Indian roads”

He added: “With decades of experience in this area, Continental offers a portfolio of high performance and advanced products which can contribute to greater road safety.”

[caption id="attachment_2119" align="alignnone" width="4928"] The MK 100 ABS Entry has been designed for the vehicle segments A, B and C[/caption]

The ABS system helps to maintain braking stability and steering ability while aggressive braking on all kind of surfaces. It does this by preventing the lock-up of wheels while braking.

[caption id="attachment_2120" align="alignnone" width="822"] With the MK 100 ESC safety and assistance functions can be configured.[/caption]

ESC on the other hand supports the prevention of critical vehicle states. This system utilises data from wheel speed sensors, steering angle sensor, yaw rate and lateral acceleration sensors and then compares the driver input with the data. If the system detects the unstable state of the vehicle, ESC unit then responds in milliseconds and stabilises the vehicle through wheel specific braking intervention and adjustment of engine torque.

With the increasing number of road accidents in India, Government stepped in and Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways mandates that two wheelers with an engine capacity exceeding 125cc manufactured from April 1, 2017 need to be fitted with anti-lock braking systems. Moreover all the existing two wheelers exceeding 125cc need to be fitted with anti-lock braking systems from April 1, 2018.