Edag | Safety and Security Center Opened.
The Edag Group has opened a competence center for functional safety and cybersecurity in Weinheim (Germany) where it plans to bring together its expertise in these areas. Validating the functional safety of vehicles is already an extremely complex task. As a result of increasing digitization, which is part of the move toward autonomous driving, and the growing interaction between vehicles and their environment, the process of ensuring the security of the data has also become highly complicated. Initially the center in Weinheim will house 25 specialists working on integrated safety and security concepts. By the end of 2020, the workforce will have grown to 50.
50 safety and security experts will be working at the Weinheim site
© Edag
Messring | Expanding with Electric Drives.
Messring, the German company specializing in crash test facilities, is adding three new sales partners to its international network: Issosoft (South Korea), Milexia (Italy), and NAC Image Technology (Japan). By strengthening its presence in these key markets, Messring aims to provide even better support for its customers and to open up new business opportunities around the world. The new agents will work closely with Messring's own sales department and will act as the initial contacts for all inquiries about test solutions for active and passive safety systems in their markets. "Working with national sales agents will help us to increase our presence in these countries and to market our portfolio of products more effectively," said Wolfgang Rohleder, Sales Director at Messring. Following the expansion into Japan, South Korea, and Italy, the company's worldwide network now covers a total of eleven countries.
Wolfgang Rohleder (left), Messring, and Alex Kim, Issosoft
© Messring
BASF | Battery Materials from Schwarzheide.
BASF is to produce innovative cathode active materials for electric vehicle batteries at its site in Schwarzheide (Germany) from 2022. The company is planning to build a new production site with a modular design, which enables it to be scaled up as required. Initially, cathode materials for around 400,000 electric vehicle batteries will be produced. To make the production process as ecologially friendly as possible, the site in Schwarzheide uses an energy-efficient gas and steam turbine power plant that operates on the principle of combined heat and power. The company also plans to integrate renewable energies to ensure that production of the cathode materials is as energy-efficient as possible. The plant will use precursors from the BASF plant in Harjavalta (Finland) which is also scheduled to go into operation in 2022.
The BASF site in Schwarzheide (Germany)
© BASF
ZKW | New Development Laboratory.
The lighting systems specialist ZKW is constructing a development laboratory and a logistics center at its site in Wieselburg (Austria). The new buildings cover an area of 2500 m² and represent an investment of around seven million euros. The laboratory, which will be equipped with systems for testing headlights, will come into operation at the same time as the logistics center in the summer of 2021. It will also have additional facilities for testing electronic components, for example for electromagnetic compatibility. The company is investing in automated test monitoring systems and state-of-the-art equipment, which includes computer tomography scanners to screen and measure components.
Development laboratory for electronic component testing
© ZKW
Renault | De Meo Becomes CEO.
Effective from July 1, 2020, the board of directors of the Renault Group has decided to appoint Luca de Meo to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Renault S. A. and Chairman of Renault s. a. s. Holding a degree in business administration, he began his career at Renault before moving to Toyota and then Fiat. In 2009 de Meo joined the Volkswagen Group as Marketing Director both for passenger cars of the Volkswagen brand and for the Volkswagen Group. From 2012 he was a member of the board of directors with responsibility for sales and marketing at Audi AG. He then became Chairman of the Executive Committee of Seat, Member of the Supervisory Boards of Ducati and Lamborghini, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Volkswagen Group in Italy from 2015 until 2020. Clotilde Delbos, the interim Chief Executive Officer of Renault S.A., will continue to fulfill the role until July and will then be appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Renault S. A.
Luca de Meo
© Renault
Impulses.
The Mobility Transition
Every year around 25,000 people die and more than 100,000 are injured on Europe's roads. In 90 % of these cases the cause is human error. With their "Vision Zero" project, Volvo and Mercedes are aiming to demonstrate that automated and autonomous driving is an essential means of improving road safety. Thousands of engineers are working on the mobility transition and their ability to innovate is needed now more than ever before. Competitors are becoming partners and cooperation across different industries is leading to the emergence of new business models.
Dr. Johannes Liebl Editor in Charge ATZ | MTZ | ATZelectronics
The digitization of mobility forms part of Germany's Climate Protection Program 2030. An amendment to the country's Passenger Transportation Act is laying the foundations for new digital mobility services. In addition, the aim is to roll out faster broadband and mobile networks and launch projects to develop new mobility concepts.
Hamburg is playing a pioneering role as the organizer of the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) congress in 2021. As part of the port city's HEAT project, a driverless electric bus is in operation on a 2-km test route, as yet without any passengers and at a speed of 15 km/h. In addition, the bus is only able to turn right. Over the next few years, the speed will gradually increase and left turns and passengers will be added. The Climate Protection Program plans to fund similar projects in other German cities. According to the program, "If the energy and mobility transition succeeds on a local scale, then it can succeed on a global scale."
Please note: Due to the danger of infection caused by the coronavirus, we are postponing our Automated Driving 2020 conference; the new date will be announced online at www.atzlive.com.
Preh | Hummel Steps Down.
Christoph Hummel, the President and CEO of the Preh Group, has resigned with immediate effect for health reasons and has left the company. Dr. Michael Roesnick, acting as interim co-CEO since November 2019, will take over as CEO until further notice. The supervisory board will appoint a permanent successor during the course of 2020. Jeff Wang, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said: "Christoph Hummel has decided to take a long break for health reasons and we respect his decision. I would like to thank him for his achievements during his 25 years with the company." Christoph Hummel is an industrial engineer who began his career in sales engineering at the Preh plant in Bad Neustadt (Germany) between 1993 and 1998. After working for Plastic Omnium and Visteon, he returned to Preh in 2000. In 2008, Christoph Hummel was appointed to the management board of Preh and in early 2016 he became President and CEO.
Christoph Hummel
© Preh
Volkswagen | Rabe Appointed CTO.
Dr. Matthias Rabe took up the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, together with additional responsibilities in technical development. Under the leadership of Dr. Frank Welsch, Board Member for Technical Development, Rabe, who is the former Head of Technical Development operations, will be responsible for managing the technical development departments and for the transformation of technical development. He is taking over these responsibilities from Welsch, who heads technical development at Volkswagen Passenger Cars and also leads research and development in his role as CTO of Volkswagen AG. Rabe has a doctorate in mechanical engineering and has already held several senior management posts in the Volkswagen Group, including Head of Chassis and Electrical Development in Shanghai (China), Head of Group Research, and Executive Vice President for Research and Development at Seat.
Matthias Rabe
© Volkswagen