Bosch to make Gen 9 ABS unit at Chakan

Bosch Chassis Systems India, a unit of Bosch India, has revealed plans to begin manufacturing its latest generation 9 ABS (antilock braking system) unit by expanding its current facility in Chakan, near Pune. At present, the facility imports ABS units from Germany and carries out some basic machining and assembly of the aluminium block.

Come June 2013, the plant will see an addition of multiple lines with capacity of 800,000 units, taking its total capacity up to 1.2 million units. The introduction of new lines will also see a sharp increase in the localisation of the product itself. The company aims to hit the target of 1.2 million units in 18 months.

The expansion will also see the doubling of its workforce from a current strength of 80 engineers to almost 160 engineers before the plant begins production. Training for both existing engineers and new recruits is currently underway in Germany. While technical training for the application engineers is on at the moment, manufacturing training for those on the shopfloor will begin in January next year. The worldwide launch of the Generation 9 ABS was in 2010 and the first cars in India to use this product were the Maruti Swift and Swift Dzire. The ABS units in these popular cars and even on recent introductions such as the Ertiga are completely imported.

While the market for ABS units in India is still meagre, it is growing significantly. The fitment rate for cars in 2010 was around 10 percent; this climbed up to 19 percent at the end of 2011. In two-wheelers, another segment where a variant of the Generation 9 ABS will be used, at present the fitment rate is almost absent. But a market does exist for ABS in two-wheelers whereas much as 27 percent of two-wheelers come with disc brakes, something that is mandatory for ABS. But a large portion of this market uses single-disc brakes (single-channel unit) and less than 1.5 percent uses dual disc brakes (twin-channel unit.)

Talking about the Generation 9 ABS unit, V Balasubramanian, deputy managing director, Bosch Chassis Systems India, says that the cost aspect was one of the major reasons why India has been late to the show. He says, “Obviously, the end users will pay for the cost. We are looking at a retail cost for a twin-channel unit at Rs 10,000 or less and for a single-channel, even lower. For a person who understands this technology, the cost is nothing. Ninety percent of the users just go with the brand and recommendation of the friends. Some of them are knowledgeable, but many others go for comfort and aesthetics, pick-up etc. So we will concentrate on spreading awareness about this technology initially.”

Study on accidents underway

Balasubramanian also has a team heading an accident research programme that is being conducted along with several OEMs in Coimbatore. It is an ongoing activity and the research is conducted by J P Research. A consortium called Road Accident Sampling System India (RASSI) has been formed comprising various OEMs and Bosch. The cost of the research is borne by the respective members and the budgets are at their discretion. The aim of the research is to understand what causes an accident and its eventual impact. The study has been going on for a year and a half now.

Balasubramanian explains, “When there’s an accident, the police informs us and we send our people to the site to ascertain the conditions, take photos, and interview the survivors to assess what happened. With the images of the site and our data, we analyse how and why it could have happened. We try and see if any form of technology could have helped prevent that accident. We then feed that into a simulator and recreate the accident and study it deeply.” Adding that it is not only Bosch’s social responsibility to undertake such a project, he says that there is nothing like real-world data to work on products.

However, he says, the study is far from over. “It is only done in Coimbatore. Before we can come to any conclusion, we have to do it all over India in urban and rural settings and different weather conditions. This can be done only with the support of the government. We have presented it to the concerned ministry and they have shown interest,” he adds.

When will ABS become mandatory fitment?

Balasubramanian remarks that legislation making ABS units mandatory in India is still far away. “We have made two to three presentations to the central government and they acknowledge the need to do this,” he says, adding that vehicle safety is not the only priority for the government.

“They have to look at road safety, even the basic design of the roads and discipline of road conditions, everything is in its focus. The challenge for the government is much more complex, but they have taken a good initiative by inviting the OEMs and suppliers. The talks towards the legislation are still in a very initial stage,” he adds.

Compare this to other emerging markets like Brazil and China and the scene is entirely different.

A recent legislation in Brazil makes it compulsory for all vehicles to come with ABS from 2014. In China, ABS is used in a significantly higher number of vehicles than in India, despite the lack of any clear legislation.

However, China’s version of the EuroNCAP (New Car Assessment Program) has ensured that a large number of vehicles in China use ABS. Despite there being claims of the C-NCAP playing favourites to certain players, 78 percent of vehicles in China are equipped with ABS units.

Balasubramanian hints that NCAP might soon have its foothold here in India, saying, “We still don’t have a timeline, but NCAP has also recognised its need to be here.”

KARTHIK H