ZF gears up to make ESC in India

Automotive suppliers the world over are quick to seize business opportunities when they recognise one. It looks to be just that with ZF, which is accelerating its safety component programme in India.

A few days ago at the Global NCAP launch of the ‘Stop The Crash’ campaign in Delhi, Abhay Damle, joint secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), had said: "Advanced safety features in all vehicles in India is needed as vehicle safety cannot be confined to luxury vehicles only . Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) will be incorporated in new vehicles between 2022 and 2023. ABS and automatic headlights for two-wheelers have already been mandated.”

ZF Friedrichshafen, a global leader in driveline and chassis technology as well as active and passive safety technology, says it is well positioned to support its customers’ new safety requirements that will be introduced soon in India. The company has significantly widened its safety systems portfolio in India and has expanded its manufacturing capabilities in the country to cater to upcoming demand.

The Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) will soon come into play. As part of BNVSAP’s new safety regulations, it will be mandatory for all new cars sold in India to be fitted with airbags and ABS as a standard. It will also mandate the fitment of reverse parking sensors, seatbelt indicators and a speed alert system as standard equipment in all new cars. The new regulations are expected to come into force from April 2019 and all new cars sold in India will have to meet them.

These regulations have encouraged many automakers to expand their footprint and manufacturing bases in India. With a broad product portfolio of safety systems and solutions – already localised in the Indian market, ZF says it is optimally positioned to help OEM meet new safety requirements.

According to Suresh KV, president of ZF India, “ZF has localised a number of key safety technologies in the Indian market including seatbelt and airbag systems (through its JV partner Rane TRW Steering Systems), as well as advanced braking systems including its Electric Park Brake (EPB) and Anti-lock Braking (ABS) technology with JV partner Brakes India. These locally manufactured safety components will play an increasingly important role in helping to enhance the overall safety of the driver and the vehicle”.

ZF participates in Stop The Crash, readies to localise ESC
As a part of its endeavour to continue providing world-class safety systems solutions, ZF has participated in the Indian ‘Stop the Crash’ safety campaign held in conjunction with the Global NCAP World Congress in Delhi. During the congress, worldwide New Car Assessment Programmes (NCAPs) are gathering to discuss independent consumer vehicle safety ratings and assess the contribution that safer vehicles can make to the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Stop the Crash, a multi-stakeholder partnership campaigning for life saving crash avoidance technologies in support of the UN Global Goals, aims to demonstrate the benefits of key safety technologies and promote increased market adoption. ZF supports this cause globally.

The StopTheCrash event has highlighted life-saving technologies Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), which are an important step when it comes to safety systems which will help OEMs meet regulatory requirements.

Suresh KV said, “ESC is a proven safety technology that has been mandated across a number of global markets. It also provides a building block on which a number of integrated safety systems are based. Studies have shown that ESC can lead to substantial reductions in crashes, deaths and serious injuries.”

“ZF is today a worldwide leader in ESC, having launched its first generation in 2002. It now has development and manufacturing capabilities in all major global regions with plans to localise in India,” he added.

Also read: Interview with Helmut Ernst, Senior Vice-President, ZF Aftermarket: ‘ZF has decided that India, besides China and ASEAN, should be a hub on its own.’