变革渐入“深水区” 外资零部件企业加速布局国内

随着中国汽车市场规模的逐年扩大，与此同时，国内在汽车保有量层面也存在巨大的发展空间，推动中国在全球汽车市场中的重要性不断凸显。过去几年，大批外资零部件厂商纷纷在已有市场基础上，开启了在中国新一轮的战略布局，特别是针对中国政府大力支持的新能源汽车和自动驾驶产业制定相应的规划，俨然成为国外“玩家”深拓中国市场的必经之路。

譬如2017年4月，博世与百度、高德和四维图新建立合作，拟共同推动中国自动驾驶汽车的发展；7月，佛吉亚与东风汽车签订协议，双方将联合建立合资公司共拓绿动智行业务；10月，采埃孚和北汽集团子公司海纳川筹备成立电动汽车合资企业，同月，华域汽车宣布与麦格纳签署合资协议，共同开发电驱动系统……均凸显了国外零部件企业对中国市场的倚重。

德韧执行副总裁兼首席技术官 Sanjay Singh

“德韧也不例外。大家可以看到，目前中国汽车产业有三个发展要点：汽车产业发展很快，电动汽车发展很快，自动驾驶汽车发展很快，而中国的政府策略也是偏向于电动化和智能化，这正好符合德韧在这方面的优势——轻量化和机电一体化。”在日前举办的第二届中国国际智能网联汽车论坛上，美国德韧汽车系统有限公司执行副总裁兼首席技术官Sanjay Singh接受盖世汽车采访时表示。因此，未来德韧将在已有上海研发中心和高邮工厂的基础上，凭借在轻量化、机电一体化、智能移动及主动安全、人机交互系统及信息娱乐整合、美学设计五大科技领域的成熟技术，进一步加大在国内市场的布局，助力中国汽车产业加速迈向电动化、智能化。

德韧换挡器上的人机界面，拥有嵌入式生物安全验证技术

在Sanjay Singh看来，德韧虽然是传统的零部件企业，但在电动化方面有很强的技术基础。“我们的电子换挡系统，投入大批量生产的，已经有三代产品了。同时，我们还有成熟的轻量化技术，可以为车企设计超轻量化的白车身架构，将轻量化技术运用到底盘和悬挂系统中，来提升新能源汽车的续航里程。最近，我们还在研发嵌入了集中式传感器控制模块的电池托盘，该技术未来可用于检测电池隐患。”

“而电子换挡和轻量化技术，对于未来的自动驾驶汽车，也不可或缺。以轻量化为例，众所周知，未来自动驾驶汽车一个很重要的用途是汽车共享，这就意味着车辆能耗必须尽可能低，才能带来更高的综合效益。我们的轻量化技术，刚好可以提升自动驾驶汽车在省油、省电方面的表现。”

此外，针对自动驾驶，Sanjay Singh透露，德韧还设计了相关的软件和硬件，包括人机界面，并开发了神经网络算法，用于传感器融合，以及打造集软件、视觉系统和测距传感器于一体的高性能、可扩展的高级辅助驾驶系统控制模块，比如360°环视系统和可满足L0-L2自动驾驶的ADAS系统。

据盖世汽车了解，德韧的360°环视系统以先进的图像处理和对行人及移动目标的实时视频监控为核心，来保证驾驶安全。该系统搭载了4个高性能摄像头，并集成了快速的视觉算法，可以无缝拼接适时图像信息，消除车辆周围的视觉盲点。而ADAS系统方面，德韧的创新解决方案整合了很多决策逻辑，比如情景意识，以实现高速公路和城市道路的自动驾驶，以及自动泊车等场景。

德韧AVA高度自动驾驶控制模块的传感器接口，可基于摄像头、雷达、激光雷达等进行动态传感器融合

“具体来看，我们的ADAS系统已经可以实现AEB、FCW、LDW、LKA、BSD、MOD、ACC等功能。”谈及具体进展Sanjay Singh表示。未来，德韧将在ADAS解决方案中进一步融入3D地图，通过传感器融合和冗余系统的开发，获取更高精度的环境信息，从而实现更高的安全性和自动化水平。“我们计划在2018年底，提升L3-L5级的自动驾驶能力，目前我们L0-L2级的自动驾驶技术，已经经过了研发阶段，并通过了测试，正处于马上可以推广给客户的阶段。”

不仅如此，德韧还计划将智能感知和显示技术运用到内、外饰上，通过HMI设计，打造智能表面，提升车辆的互联性。根据德韧的设想，未来汽车不仅可以在电子换挡器上配置人机界面，提升操作安全，甚至连汽车B柱外表面，也可以安装一个人机界面，用于对汽车实施开门、关门等操作。同时，德韧也在研发自己的无钥匙进入和秘钥共享APP，以更好地迎接未来汽车智能化、网联化变革大潮。

德韧的智能表面技术，可将内外饰变为一种新的互联设备，用于人机交互

当前，中国对于发展新能源汽车、车联网、自动驾驶等产业的支持力度已经到了一个前所未有的高度，特别是车联网和自动驾驶，由于在国内外均属于前沿领域，一度被认为是中国汽车产业“弯道超车”的机会，而给予了重点关注。正是基于这样的背景，近两年大批外资车企及零部件企业开始针对自动驾驶、车联网等新技术的落地，大力布局国内市场，推动中国汽车产业步入了转型升级的关键时刻！

From a gradual entrance, foreign auto suppliers accelerate plans in China during a critical phase

Even as the scale of China's automobile market has continuously expanded year-by-year, there is still vast room for further growth of automobile ownership in China. The importance of China in the global automobile market is constantly highlighted. In the past few years, a large number of foreign suppliers have initiated a new round of strategic initiatives in China on the basis of technological growth. In particular, with the launch of regulations by the Chinese government for new-energy vehicles and autonomous driving, a strategic focus on technology becomes critical for international players to expand within the Chinese market.

For example, in April 2017, Bosch established cooperation with Baidu, AutoNavi and NavInfo  to promote the development of China's autonomous vehicles;  In July, Faurecia and Dongfeng Motor signed an agreement to jointly establish a joint venture in area of new-energy and intelligent vehicles. In August, ZF and Beijing Automotive Group subsidiary Haina Chuan prepared the establishment of electric vehicle joint venture. In the same month, Huayu Automotive announced a signing of a joint venture agreement with Magna to jointly develop electric drive system. These all highlight the importance that overseas suppliers place on the Chinese market.

Dura chief technology officer, Sanjay Singh speaks on mobility evolution during the 2017 International Connected Vehicle Forum.

Dura Automotive Systems is no exception. “There are currently three major attractions for the development of China's automobile industry: the rapid growth in overall vehicle purchases, the fast pace of electric vehicle development and the velocity at which autonomous vehicles are projected to be introduced. China's government supports a strategic move toward electrification and vehicle intelligence. Dura also has strategic interest in these areas and they are aligned perfectly with our advanced technologies for lightweighting, electrification, and automated driving solutions," said Sanjay Singh, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Dura Automotive Systems. The company joined in an exclusive interview with Gasgoo at the second China International Intelligent Connected Vehicle Forum. Dura, headquartered in the United States, will further increase its presence in the China market, building on its existing R&D center and manufacturing operations in Shanghai, along with its latest new factory in Gaoyou. The company plans to help China's automobile industry to accelerate toward electrification and intelligent driving systems, with Dura's established technologies along five main pillars:

Lightweighting, Amalgamated Mechatronics, Design Aesthetics, Advanced Mobility & Active Safety, and HMI & Infotainment Fusion.

A DURA shifter HMI with embedded biometric security validation

In Sanjay Singh's view, in addition to the company’s proven reputation in traditional vehicle technologies, DURA has played a meaningful role in vehicle electrification.  "We have three generations of electronic shifters in mass production. Meanwhile, we have mature and proven lightweight technologies that can be used in design of ultra-lightweight body structures for car makers. This same technology can also be applied to chassis and suspension systems, to boost the range of new energy vehicles. Our most recent developments in lightweight battery trays even incorporate embedded sensor control modules, which could be used for early detection and prevention of EV battery failure modes to improve safety and reliability.

"The technologies employed by vehicle electrification and lightweighting are indispensable for the future of autonomous vehicles. Taking lightweighting as an example, it is well-known that vehicle sharing and the need for extended range operation will be important to autonomous vehicles of the future. This also means that the vehicle energy consumption must be as low as possible to achieve a higher overall profitability for fleet operators and consumers. Our lightweight technology can enhance the performance of autonomous vehicles in terms of energy efficiency and overall range.”

In addition, for self-driving, Sanjay Singh disclosed that the company has designed software and hardware including human-machine interfaces, neural network algorithms, sensor fusion, and has made scalable, high-performance ADAS control modules which integrate software, vision systems and ranging sensors, such as the 360 ° vision system and L0-L3 ADAS systems.

Gasgoo has learned that DURA's 360 ° Surround View System ensures driving safety with advanced image processing and real-time video monitoring of pedestrians and moving objects. The system is powered by four high-performance cameras and incorporates fast visual algorithms to seamlessly stitch time-critical image information and eliminate visual blind spots around vehicles. For ADAS systems, Dura's innovative solutions incorporate many decision-making algorithms for situational awareness to enable autonomous driving on freeways and urban roads, as well as fully automated parking.

Dura’s AVA highly automated driving control module interfaces with sensors such as cameras, radar and lidar for dynamic sensor fusion.

"Specifically, our centralized ADAS system is already capable of AEB, FCW, LDW, LKA, BSD, MOD, ACC, etc.," turning to specific progress, stated Sanjay Singh. In the future, Dura will further integrate 3D maps into its ADAS solutions to achieve higher levels of safety and automation through sensor fusion. The HD maps represent another redundant system to achieve more accurate environmental information. "We plan to continue developments of our L3-L5 autonomous driving capabilities with further offerings by the end of 2018. Currently, our L0-L2 autonomous driving technology has been tested and we are in the process of making these available to our customers."

Not only that, Dura also plans to use intelligent perception and display technology on interior and exterior designs, creating intelligent surfaces and enhancing vehicle connectivity through HMI design. According to Dura's vision, the future vehicle will encompass embedded driver interfaces to enhance operational security and safety. These technologies will even be present in the surface of B pillars for access features such as opening and closing doors and windows. At the same time, Dura is also developing its own keyless entry and key sharing APPs, to accommodate the trend of ride sharing for intelligent and connected vehicles of the future.

Dura’s smart surface technology transforms internal and external trim into new connected devices for human-machine-interfaces (HMI).

At present, China has reached an advantageous position in its efforts to develop new energy vehicles, connected vehicles and autonomous driving. As autonomous driving continues to draw new technology development in both domestic and foreign markets many believe that this is an opportunity for Chinese automobile manufacturers to take the lead in this global race for automation. It is precisely because of this background that in recent years a large number of foreign auto makers and suppliers have started to launch their new technologies aimed at autonomous driving and connected vehicles, vigorously deploying them to the domestic China market to push the Chinese auto industry into a crucial moment of mobility transformation and evolution.