Continental Automotive India on Thursday announced that its Bengaluru plant has reached a milestone for producing one million Airbag Control Units (ACUs), a landmark achieved in a single calendar year.
The company has commenced ACU production in the Bengaluru plant in 2016. In 2019, it added additional assembly lines to increase its capacity to meet the growing market demand.
According to the company, it is localising the entire value chain from R&D to design and production as per the customers’ requirements. Apart from catering to leading OEMs in the local market, the Bengaluru plant also exports these control units to other Asian regions.
Sukhdeep Sandhu, Head - Passive Safety and Sensorics Business Unit, Continental Automotive India, said, “We have been continuously increasing our manufacturing and R&D efforts in India with our ‘in the market, for the market’ approach. Our localisation approach also elevates innovation capabilities, adapting globally proven technologies to the local market needs. Because we believe safety is for all.”
Phanindra Karody, Head of Bengaluru Plant, Continental Automotive India, said, “Producing one million ACUs per year is a special milestone for us. Over the past two years, the pandemic presented many challenges. However, as a team, we adapted to the changing scenarios and were able to reach our targets with minimal disruptions. Also, the move towards Industry 4.0 has helped us not only in maintaining product quality and global manufacturing standards but also effectively mobilise our supply chain. We are planning to increase our ACU production capacity by at least 30% in the next few years.”
Being a critical component for the functioning of airbags, the ACU provides restraint control features and supports instant communication with the satellite crash sensors, which help detect and evaluate the intensity of the crash situation and focus on occupant safety functions.
The product lines of ACU are based on a modular platform approach, which is scalable, flexible, and cost-optimised via modular building blocks. Its basic functions and integration option of additional safety features are designed to meet all market requirements.
The basic version supports standard passive safety functions and therefore is suited to the rising demand for cost-effective safety features, such as front and side airbags and belt pre-tensioners, in emerging markets. Additional safety functions such as Vehicle Dynamics Sensing, Rollover Detection, and Event Data Recording can be integrated within the modular concept, the company added.