Autoneum, Nittoku and Toyota Boshoku establish joint venture for research and development cooperation
The three automobile suppliers Autoneum, Nittoku and Toyota Boshoku agree an expansion of their existing collaboration through joint research and development activities in vehicle acoustics by means of a joint venture. As of 2018, the initial customer Toyota will benefit from this bundling of acoustics expertise in predevelopment studies as well as through innovative components for optimized vehicle acoustics.
Autoneum and the Japanese automobile suppliers Nittoku (Nihon Tokushu Toryo) and Toyota Boshoku have agreed on the establishment of a joint venture for research and development in vehicle acoustics and signed a corresponding agreement. The collaboration, which is subject to approval by regulatory authorities, is expected to begin in January 2018. By means of the joint venture acoustic studies for Toyota Motor Corporation and other automotive related companies will be conducted in Japan under the scientific lead of Autoneum. In future, customers will benefit from the expertise of the Swiss innovation leader and its Japanese partners both in the predevelopment of vehicle models with NV benchmarking (noise, vibration) and subsequently in the vehicle development with the computer-aided design of customized acoustics systems. In order to guarantee the highest standards, measurement systems and simulation software developed by Autoneum will be deployed at the acoustic center located at Toyota Boshoku in Japan.
For more than 50 years, Autoneum and Nittoku have cooperated successfully in the global supply of Japanese OEMs with innovative and lightweight components for acoustic and thermal management. Together they operate seven joint ventures worldwide. The future acoustics development for Toyota together with Toyota Boshoku, a leading producer of interior systems, will serve to further expand the collaboration of the three automobile suppliers in the field of vehicle interior systems that has been in place since 2012.
Autoneum and World Car Awards continue successful partnership
Autoneum is continuing its sponsorship of the World Car Awards as Presenting Partner of the renowned industry award program, extending the relationship which began in 2014. The official kick-off of the 2018 World Car Awards took place today with the announcement of candidates at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. The majority of the nominated models is equipped with Autoneum components, which confirms the Company’s consistent focus on innovation.
Autoneum is continuing its sponsorship of the World Car Awards and promoting the “Road to World Car 2018” as Presenting Partner. The journey kicked off today with the announcement of candidates in the categories “World Car of the Year”, “World Luxury Car”, “World Performance Car”, “World Car Design of the Year”, “World Green Car“ and “World Urban Car” at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. Once again, the majority of the nominees benefits from Autoneum’s lightweight components, which is further testament to the Company’s innovation leadership. The six winners will be honored at the end of March next year at the New York Motor Show.
Autoneum and the World Car Awards share a commitment to excellence in the automotive industry. It is in this light that in 2014 the “Road Ahead” initiative was launched to promote inno- vation in the automotive industry by identifying future trends. An overview of such trends is provided in the annual “Global Trends Report” which is jointly published by the market research company Prime Research and Autoneum on the occasion of the World Car Awards ceremony.
According to the “Global Trends Report 2017”, the automotive future will be shaped predomi- nantly by electric and self-driving vehicles as well as shared mobility (car sharing). These vehicle segments in particular call for specific acoustic management because the focus of attention is shifting even more to optimum acoustics and driving comfort. Together with existing and new players in the automotive industry, Autoneum is already today developing components for vehicle noise and heat protection for this purpose.
The industry-leading World Car Awards have been presented every year since 2004 by an international jury consisting of more than 80 leading industry journalists. The F-PACE from Jaguar Land Rover, selected as “World Car of the Year 2017”, is equipped with various components from Autoneum.