At the 16th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (April 20 to 29), Continental is showcasing various customized solutions and products for the China market, themed "Chinese Dream" at booth 5B H311. Ever since it entered the China market in 1994, Continental has been successfully growing together with the Chinese auto industry. To better accomplish the "Chinese Dream" with the Chinese auto industry, Continental endeavors to contribute to the five megatrends of mobility – Urbanization, Safety and Health, Environmental Protection, Individual Mobility and Information Society. Taking this very occasion, the company is highlighting customized solutions via exhibition of exclusive technologies and eye-catching display.
"The theme of Auto Shanghai 2015 is 'Innovation for Upgrading', which is just in line with Continental's vision: Providing highly developed technologies for safe, efficient and intelligent mobility, transportation and processing that make up our world," said Dr. Elmar Degenhart, Chairman of the Executive Board Continental AG. He added: "We want to provide the best components, solutions and services to each of our customers in each of our markets."
"At Auto Shanghai 2015, we brought our latest and customized products and solutions surrounding our theme–'Chinese Dream', which is realized by the five megatrends of mobility," said Dr. Ralf Cramer, Member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and President & CEO of Continental China. "Demand for vehicles would continue to rise worldwide. Continental is growing with it – faster than the markets themselves. Especially China is a key growth market for Continental. This is why we solidly play an active role in shaping and contributing to the five megatrends of mobility in China."
Urbanization: growing cities and changing mobility patterns
Urbanization, considered the greatest opportunity to expand domestic demand, has become an important part of the Chinese dream. To accommodate the increase in urban citizens, China is investing in and expanding its infrastructure network such as rail connections and other transportation systems, public service facilities and housing. With the improvement of infrastructure in China, mobility patterns start changing with urbanization.
ContiTech, a division of Continental, is participating in the improvement of infrastructure. With its high tech products and technology, ContiTech is playing an active role in developing the most up-to-date railway transportation networks in many of Chinese cities.
Safety & Health: fundamental element of a high standard of living
Vehicle safety is becoming more and more important as a key driver for realizing "Vision Zero"–a future without road accidents. The Chassis & Safety Division demonstrates a complete portfolio of active and passive safety solutions under its core competencies "SensePlanAct", defining the fields in which Chassis & Safety products significantly contribute to the chain of effects to achieve "Safe and Dynamic Driving towards Vision Zero". For each of the three process stages – perception of the vehicle state and its environment (Sense), derivation of possibilities for action and necessary decisions (Plan) and innovations that lead to an action to be performed (Act). Chassis & Safety offers integrated active and passive safety technologies and products that support the vehicle dynamics.
At the show, one of the highlight Chassis & Safety products is a scalable Surround View solution that is based on fish eye cameras with a horizontal view of more than 180°. It supports the driver with a 3D surround view when parking and also when maneuvering at low speeds. Consisting of four cameras – in front, in the rear and on the outside rear view mirrors – the whole area around the car can be safely viewed. It generates multiple views and angles, even in difficult situations.
Vehicular communication based on short-range wireless technology opens up novel applications improving road safety and travel comfort. Also on the stage, Chassis & Safety displays solutions for Car-to-X communication (C2X) that integrate data from other cars or from the infrastructure into a vehicle's safety functions, acting like an additional sensor. Chassis & Safety has developed a C2X communication unit with Motion Information to X Provider (M2XPro). The M2XPro determines a car's position and driving dynamics data reliably and without interruption which is essential for C2X communication. Making this data available via short-range C2X communication enables a car to recognize hazards early, thus enhancing safety.
Continental also helps to build a healthy accident-free society in China with various products including Continental Tires. New ContiVikingContact 6 is a tire with excellent properties on extreme winter roads. The properties are prioritized highest when the tire grips on snow, ice and bare ground and the goal is to make driving even safer, whether walking in urban or more rural communities. ContiSeal is a technology developed by Continental designed to seal a damaged tire tread. In case of penetration by foreign objects such as nails, there is no need for immediate roadside tire changes and holes remain sealed even if the puncturing object becomes dislodged. The Continental Tires China Training Center and the Research and Development Evaluation Center, which are both also located in Hefei, will officially go into operation this year. These all new facilities not only reflect that Continental Tires will continue to increase our investments in China and fulfill our commitment to the Chinese market, but also demonstrate our care for the success of Continental Tires' partners."
As surface specialist, the company is also an international pioneer when it comes to creating low-emission and health-friendly covering materials for vehicle interiors such as Acella Eco. Acella Eco is an especially health-friendly product and sets the standard in China for low interior emissions in vehicles. ContiTech is currently the only supplier on the Chinese market that can meet each and every one of China's legal requirements for good air quality in vehicles.
Environmental Protection: reducing pollution and saving energy
The first Continental turbocharger went into series production in a highly efficient, multi-award-winning 1.0L engine in 2011, ever since, Continental has made its solid and strong moves in turbocharger business. In 2014, Continental added another chapter to this success story with a technological world premiere: the first turbocharger with aluminum turbine housing in passenger cars, which is the first of its kind worldwide. With its light-weight material, customers can get nearly 30% of weight saving compared to a conventional turbocharger, while simultaneously reducing costs and achieving system benefits. The light-weight design also supports the automotive industry in its efforts to meet highly ambitious fuel consumption and emission targets. In addition, the water cooling system for the aluminum housing offers two further benefits: first, a lot less effort is required to protect neighboring components from the heat, and second, cooling of the exhaust flow reduces the thermal load on the catalytic converter, meaning it hardly ages at all. However, it is not just the aluminum that makes the turbocharger special – it has also evolved from being a typical add-on component to an integral part of the engine.
Besides optimizing combustion engines, the electrification of the powertrain also plays a key role in reducing fuel consumption and emissions. Continental bridged the gap between entry-level hybrid and high-voltage hybrid solutions with its "48-Volt Eco Drive" system. The new hybrid technology can be easily integrated into the architecture of conventional-drive vehicles, yet, at the same time, it provides features that up to now have only been found in high-voltage hybrid systems. Thanks to greater performance and fuel-saving "engine off" features, this 48V technology increases vehicle efficiency, thereby cutting consumption. This cost-saving technology also brings more driving fun and comfort to the driver. As a first step, this product is scheduled to go into production in 2016 with a European customer, followed by Asian and North American customers.
To meet the unique requirements of electric vehicles and hybrid cars, Continental has launched a new range of tires that are specially designed, such as Conti.eContact. This new and extensively hand-crafted summer tire is the first from Continental to obtain the top A rating on the EU Tire Label for both wet grip and rolling resistance, while making no significant compromises in terms of the many other performance parameters. In addition, to showoff Continental's green commitment, Continental Tires develop the dandelion rubber to produce large amounts of the latex on which natural rubber in based, and make it possible to realize "green tire".
In a bid to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, automotive producers makes continuous efforts to eliminate unnecessary weight. Made of glass-fibre reinforced polyamide, ContiTech's transmission crossbeam for rear axles weighs 25 percent less than equivalent parts made of aluminium. Another example is ContiTech's latest generation of charge air hoses for passenger cars. As well as making the best possible use of the space available, they represent a weight-saving solution. The timing belt, which runs in oil, has 30% lower friction loss compared to a chain drive. This reduces fuel consumption by up to 0.2 liters per 100 kilometers, thus reducing CO2 emissions by two grams per kilometer.
Individual Mobility: Increasing demand for diversified mobility solutions make China a leader in e-mobility
Continental develops and produces a broader and more efficient range of diversified solutions and provides them to the Chinese market.
A report of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) showed that riding a motorcycle is 20 times more dangerous than driving a car on the same distance. To improve the active safety of motorcycles Chassis & Safety has developed electronic brake systems for scooters and motorcycles of all classes on the basis of its tried-and-tested passenger car Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) technology in line with its motto "Safety for Everyone". Chassis & Safety has built up local research and development as well as mass production capacity of motorcycle electronic brake systems to enhance the safety of motorcycles in the Chinese market.
More sophisticated systems allow for completely new convenient functions. These include Passive Start and Entry Systems (PASE), which can meet high demand of a comfortable hands free access in China market and the next generation offers enhanced vehicle access and start with innovative technologies (Bluetooth Low Energy, Near Field Communication) via the use of smart devices, such as smartphones or smartwatches, while Wireless Smartphone Charging makes driver's digital life in the vehicle easier and LED light control help highlight the hazards on the road. Other examples for this approach are the diagnostic and service tools for the China OE application.
While the latest generation of eHorizon is an example for Machine-2-Machine communication: Information is gathered by sensors from vehicles, sent to the cloud and will be directly used by the vehicle electronics to make the car better – and all these in close to real time. The use cases for Continental's eHorizon extend even further and include highly automated driving, one of the diversified mobility, where horizon technology is needed to allow the vehicle to "look around the corner".
Information Society: Connected society with the largest Internet population in the world
Information society is one of Continental's main drivers, when this leading supplier innovates and brings technologies into the Chinese market. For Continental Interior Division, one of its major missions is to deliver information management in the vehicle and beyond for driver and passengers.
In the vehicle, Continental has developed a Multimedia Radio Navigation (MRN) System for the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group in China. Based on Continental's scalable Multimedia Platform concept, the MRN System is the first navigation solution of Continental, exclusively tailor-made for a Chinese vehicle manufacturer and it was mainly done by experts inShanghai and Singapore. The product integrates innovative technologies including a high resolution touch screen and Point Of Interest services. The touch screen allows hand-writing recognition of Chinese characters and pin-yin to ease operation.
LTE connectivity will allow vehicles to be "Always ON" and even offer a greater variety of services between vehicle and outside world. Continental has developed a LTE Telematics module for high speed data access worldwide, which paves the way for real-time services. This new generation Telematics solution offers up to 100 Mbps bandwidth where the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile network standard is available. By integrating configurable frequency variants, interchangeable options for air interface solutions, GPS/GLONASS, and WLAN into one scalable and highly compact hardware module, Continental's LTE module can be used worldwide.
New vehicle functions will be accepted by end-customers with future trends of Instrumentation & Driver HMI, such as Hybrid Cluster and Head-up Displays. The former combines the benefits of a classical cluster with mechanical elements and the flexibility of a FPC integrated in one totally seamless 3D surface with a sleek black panel appearance supported by an RGB LED array for vibrant visual effects.
