ThyssenKrupp develops 35 innovations for auto manufacturers

Sunday, 08 Nov 2009

After implementing a new, more efficient corporate structure within a very short space of time, the ThyssenKrupp Group is beginning the new fiscal year with a technology offensive.

In the cross group research project InCar, ThyssenKrupp engineers from the Steel Europe and Components Technology business areas have developed 35 innovations for auto manufacturers. No other automotive supplier has ever launched such an extensive package of independently developed innovations. The first InCar parts are already being tested in plants for introduction into production.

The aim of the InCar project is to develop solutions that outperform conventional designs. As a reference standard for the body solutions the InCar team designed a dedicated, virtual auto body for an upper mid-size vehicle, using the same software tools as auto manufacturers use when developing a new car.

Dr Karsten Kroos chairman of the Components Technology management board of ThyssenKrupp said that "We compare the InCar solutions not with a real vehicle from a specific manufacturer but with a manufacturer independent reference structure. That makes it easier for our customers to adopt our innovations and match them to their own brand, design and production strategies. At the same time we now possess our own reference for developing and validating future innovations."

InCar brings together the full automotive know how of the ThyssenKrupp Group. The companies involved in the project employ experts in materials development, design, production technology, part manufacture, assembly lines, tooling and prototyping for the auto industry. The project offers new solutions for the body, chassis and powertrain areas. Using InCar innovations, auto OEMs can conserve resources, reduce costs or build cars with improved functions, depending on their particular development goals. At the same time the innovations have been validated to such an extent that they can be put into production quickly and at low cost.

Dr Ulrich Jaroni member of the executive board of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe said that "InCar comes at exactly the right time."

For climate protection, InCar offers innovations capable of reducing emissions by a total of more than 17 grams of CO2 per kilometer. However, ThyssenKrupp supports taking a more comprehensive view - after all, CO2 is also generated during the production of cars and parts. That is why the ecological assessment of the InCar solutions prepared by the German institute PE International and certified by TÜV Nord covers the entire product lifecycle. The result: Taking the whole production and usage cycle into account, the cleanest InCar solutions together can reduce emissions by around 5,500 kilograms of CO2 per vehicle compared with the current state of the art.