UNO Minda's TD118 tech demo car offers cues to Group's new growth path

The UNO Minda Group, which wants to project itself as a systems supplier also, showcased the TD118 at the Auto Expo. The demo car also showcases UNO Minda’s efforts to tap the new megatrends of autonomous and connected cars.

By Sumantra B Barooah

16 Feb 2018

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The TD118 also showcases UNO Minda’s efforts to tap the new megatrends of autonomous and connected cars.

Indian component major UNO Minda Group has a presence in about 26 product categories. As part of its growth strategy, the company now wants to project itself as a systems supplier too. That explains the creation of the TD118, a technology demonstration car, which was showcased at the company stand at the Auto Expo Components Show at Pragati Maidan last week. The moniker stands for technology demonstrator car No. 1, 2018.

“What we tried to do is to bring in solutions and show OEMs how these different products could interact with each other. What we do by doing that is basically demonstrate use cases rather than demonstrating products,” said Amit Jain, CEO – Advanced Technology and executive director, UNO Minda Group (pictured below).

'Smart and connected' is the theme for the TD118. A Maruti Suzuki Baleno gets even more attractive with the redesigned headlamps with LED DRLs and rectangular projector lamp matrix with dynamic turn indicators and redesigned LED tail-lamps.

The TD118 also showcases UNO Minda’s efforts to tap the new megatrends of autonomous and connected cars. The car is designed to be able to park itself autonomously. Two radars, four cameras and 10 ultrasonic sensors help the TD118 do it as well as detect blind spots. A door-open warning is built into the system, especially for Indian use cases.

Occupants of the car will be alerted by a red light near the inside door handle if it's unsafe to open the door due to traffic or any obstacle. The radars also assist in reversing the car by alerting the driver of any cross traffic. The images of the four cameras get stitched together to give a bird's eye-view too.

In the interior, the centre console of the TD118 gets a 10-inch vertically mounted touchscreen, which houses the infotainment system with Android's operating system exclusively for automotive applications, HVAC and TPMS among a host of features. The car's sound system is also enhanced with two roof-mounted speakers.

The Group has a presence in 26 product categories. Everything in the TD118 is from the existing product portfolio. According to Jain, the TD118 is just the start. TD218 will follow this year. The plan is to showcase 10 technology demonstrator vehicles over the next five years.