by Gary S. Vasilash
> Editor-In-Chief
Historically, one might think of auto-
motive suppliers in the context of
those frms that made a part or maybe
an assembly or even a whole module.
But fairly discrete, fnite, bounded
things. Not the big-picture things
that OEMs are thought to be dealing
with.
If there is any question about how
the supply base is undergoing a
transformation that could arguably be
more profound than that of the OEMs
(after all, OEMs, as a rule, depend on
the developments of their suppliers,
developments that get integrated
into their vehicles, especially as the
"make-to-print" era is well behind
us), just listen to Dr. Elmar Degenhart,
CEO of Continental AG ( continental-
corporation.com ):
"Our three focal points are:
1. Preparing the way from assisted to
automated driving.
2. Technically implementing the largely
complete, intelligent interconnectivity
of vehicles, vehicle users, and the trafc
infrastructure.
3. And increasing the efciency of
drives and developing electric mobility."
Remember: Continental is a supplier.
Yet Degenhart's development agenda
is so comprehensive and wide-
reaching it sounds like something that
CONTINENTAL
:
Engineering the Future
YOU CAN LET THE FUTURE HAPPEN, OR YOU CAN
HELP SHAPE IT. WHEN IT COMES TO AUTOMOTIVE
TECHNOLOGY, THE PEOPLE AT CONTINENTAL ARE
PURSUING THE LATTER COURSE IN A MASSIVE WAY.
p Dr. Elmar Degenhart: "We are working on being able to ofer afordable mobility, with
three key aspects: zero road trafc accidents, clean air, and intelligent vehicles with added
convenience." The crash test dummy's T-shirt expresses its thanks for the frst objective.
wouldn't merely come from an OEM
but something like the vision of a
national lab. But because Continental
is a supplier and not a national lab,
it is essential that it make the things
that it can proftably provide to its
customers so his agenda is practical,
not theoretical or rhetorical. That is:
the vision must be manifest in fairly
discrete, fnite, bounded things.
This is not the stuf of a futurist,
although even three years ago to hear
someone say "Preparing the way from
assisted to automated driving" would
provoke an eye roll among industry
insiders at the very least.
Yet Degenhart and his team are
developing—and have developed—
specifc technologies that are making
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AD&P; > November 2015 > FEATURE > Continental: Engineering the Future > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com