Knorr-Bremse and Dongfeng Auto Parts are adding steering systems and associated activities to their joint venture to assist automated driving.
The Sino-German joint venture was established in 2015 focusing on air brakes, and now the cooperation will include steering systems as well as increasing its investment in research and development of automated driving.
Chen Xinglin, vice president of Dongfeng Limited, and CEO and general manager of Dongfeng Auto Parts, said, “Knorr-Bremse’s experience in the truck sector combined with its advances in steering systems will deliver a powerful experience to our customers, together with greater operational efficiency.”
Dr Peter Laier, member of the Knorr-Bremse executive board responsible for commercial vehicle systems, said, “By including steering systems in the joint venture, we are taking another important step in order to become a market player in the Chinese commercial vehicle steering systems market. At the same time, the combination of braking and steering systems will build the basis for us to become a system supplier for driver assistance systems (DAS) and highly automated driving (HAD).”
BaoPing Xu, member of the board of directors of Knorr-Bremse Asia-Pacific in charge of commercial vehicle systems, said, “Injecting steering activities into the joint venture responds to customers’ recognition of Knorr-Bremse’s product strategy of combining steering and braking control to realize driver assistance and automated driving functions.”