World’s first sunroof air bag developed by Korean component maker

As the automotive industry gears up for the next phase of evolution in the industry, component makers are on an innovation drive. The goal for automakers and component makers is to make mobility more convenient and safer.

South Korean component maker Hyundai Mobis, part of the Hyundai Motor Group, claims to have developed the world’s first airbag system for sunroofs, reports Korean Herald.

The component maker had submitted a study to the US-based safety agency National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTA). It mentions that the thought behind the concept of a sunroof airbag came from the idea to enhance the safety of passengers during a collision or rollover of a vehicle. In a sunroof equipped vehicle, the risk for injury to occupants could be higher. 

The report says that the sunroof market size was estimated to be $4,924 million (Rs 31,104 crore) in 2015, with average growth projected to be around 10.9 percent by 2022. It identifies growth rate for sunroofs in the premium automotive market of China, India, and Korea to be more pronounced.

Acting on the growing demand for sunroof in vehicles and seeing it as an important safety juncture, the company worked on various prototypes and undertook tests to find the results for coming up with the optimal solution. It concluded that the shortlisted panoramic sunroof airbag will be an integrated mounting module inside the panoramic sunroof module, which will be deployed from the rear to the front along the development wire type guider. In order to develop the ejection mitigation performance, the double cushion structure type of delay cushion type was applied to the optimum cushion type to secure the performance of the present level of curtain airbag. The developed airbag takes 0.08 second to go off and prevent serious neck and head injuries in a rollover accident. 

Hyundai Mobis would hope to bag orders particularly for panoramic sun roofs in SUVs in the world's $5.3 billion (Rs 33,480 crore) airbag market.

With new safety regulations slated to come into force in India, Hyundai Mobis could also find a market for its sunroof airbag here, in the near future.  

Image courtesy - Korean Herald