Car India – May 2019

(EBA), which supports the driver in critical situations with traffic.
The EBA system is designed to avoid accidents by means of driver
visual/audible alert as well as automatic partial and full braking.
We, at Continental, have several solutions for traffic-related
crises; however, the spectrum required for these functionalities to
work needs more support from the legislation. Our responsibility is
to support the market with these advanced mobility technologies.
We have done this in other countries and we are doing it in India,
too. I don’t believe that all can be done by legislation immediately
as the overall framework takes time. However, with increasing
awareness coupled with the right solution, full-fledged usage of our
technologies on India roads is not a distant dream.

CI: To what extent are your domestic suppliers adopting the
Continental suite of systems?
AK: At Continental, we’re closely working with our suppliers. In
our endeavour to provide best-in-class support to our customers,
we induct the suppliers thoroughly on our supply chain processes
and they are properly supported with the basic rules to meet
business expectations. We understand that localization is important
to meet the specific technology and cost requirements of the Indian
market. Continental is doing everything possible to make
technologies cost-effective.
Additionally, I would like to mention that Continental India,
besides its sophisticated production facilities, also contributes to
the corporation’s global R&D footprint, with active R&D carried
out by both the business units present in India and at TCI, set up
in 2009.
As mentioned earlier, the Center has been growing rapidly in
head count and complexity of work. TCI today supports end-
to-end product development from requirement engineering to
vehicle build-up and testing in specific areas encompassing
software, electronics, and mechanics. An example of their level of
engineering depth are the highly sophisticated technologies for
domains such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.

CI: Are there any critical technologies you feel should become
mainstream with greater acceptance by the major
manufacturers?
AK: Yes, we believe ESC and autonomous emergency brake

(AEB) need to be accepted and mandated, too, and we’re

expecting it to happen by 2022-23. Having said that, OEMs

and suppliers are aware of this scenario and working closely to

meet this target. The technologies are available in India and

are active safety features that will hugely impact in reducing

road crashes and collisions. In a simple term, ESC is an

anti-skid technology that uses sensors continuously to monitor

the stability of the vehicle. On the other hand, AEB

continuously monitors the roads and helps apply the brakes

autonomously in a situation of obstruction or crash. Overall,

we’re on the right path and India is looking forward to major

road safety norms.

CI: How much will 5G connectivity impact the availability and

function of new connected systems? What sort of horizon do you

look see for the implementation when it comes to automotive safety

in India?

AK: Yes, a reliable source of 5G connectivity can dramatically

impact the capabilities of connected vehicles. In this era, most of

the vehicles are connected and work closely together with in-

vehicle systems. 5G will play a significant role in enabling

vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication at

a pace and capacity that was not possible with previous networks.

We already have a technology in place for this transformation.

Continental’s Hybrid V2X solution integrates technologies for

4G and 5G network access, Dedicated Short Range

Communication (DSRC) and Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)

communication. This helps vehicle manufacturers to overcome a

big challenge when deploying V2X on a global scale. Some

regions prefer the established DSRC and others lean towards the

upcoming Cellular-V2X standard. With our hybrid V2X solution,

the same hardware and software platform can be used to support

either communication standard, reducing cost and complexity for

a global application of V2X communication.

In India, the buzz around such advanced technologies is making

its way. I believe the focus should be on safety technologies first,

then slowly steering towards intelligent mobility solutions so that

we can create an ecosystem that will act efficiently and, hence,

allow integration of technology with the existing infrastructure.

We have to take one step at a time to ward off road safety threats.

V2X OneBox

MK C1

MK 100 ESC High Plus

MK 100 ABS Entry

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