TRW Advanced Safety Technologies Featured on Nearly 80 Percent of IIHS 2010 Top Safety Pick Winners

LIVONIA, Mich., Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently named its 2010 Top Safety Picks and TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TRW), the global leader in active and passive safety, is well-represented -- its advanced safety systems are featured on nearly 80 percent of the winning vehicles.  The TRW safety systems include a variety of occupant safety, steering, braking and electronic technologies.

"The fact that TRW technologies are featured on 21 of the Institute's 27 Top Safety Picks underscores our commitment to provide affordable, intelligent safety systems to meet both customer and regulatory requirements," said Peter Lake, executive vice president, Sales and Business Development for TRW Automotive. "Moving forward on our path of intelligent or 'Cognitive Safety Systems', we're driving improvements that will both help to protect occupants and help to prevent accidents from occurring."

IIHS' 2010 Top Safety Picks, which include 19 cars and eight SUVs, recognizes vehicles that perform well in roof strength tests and protect occupants in front, side, rear and rollover crashes based on good ratings in tests. In addition, winners must have electronic stability control (ESC). The IIHS recognized side airbags and electronic stability control, among other technologies, as reasons for vehicles achieving the safety pick status.

Among TRW's advanced safety technologies featured on IIHS Top Safety Pick winners are:

• ESC: combines antilock brakes and traction control and adds a yaw stability function to help reduce the possibility of a loss of vehicle control caused by skidding, sliding, oversteer / understeer or panic braking when the vehicle's tires are on two different surfaces, such as a patch of ice and dry pavement;

• Advanced sensor technologies: monitor critical safety inputs and provide information to a variety of onboard systems. Sensors include radar for adaptive cruise control, camera for lane departure and lane keeping assist systems, tire pressure monitoring, inertial measurement, rollover and side impact and crush zone sensing;

• Curtain airbags: protect up to three rows of passengers in side and rollover accidents. When coupled with a rollover sensor and TRW's unique cold gas inflator, the curtain airbag can help protect passengers in a rollover accident for up to six seconds;

• Electric power steering: The system offers premium performance across a wide range of vehicle platforms. It also reduces CO2 emissions by only consuming power when steering assist is needed and requires 90 percent less energy than conventional power steering resulting in a 3-4 percent fuel economy improvement when compared to hydraulic rack and pinion steering systems.

• Knee airbags: uses TRW's advanced  inflator technology and helps provide harmonized occupant kinematics and positioning, while reducing and / or balancing chest and lower limb loads;

• Side airbags: help improve occupant protection in side impact collisions. This system has an efficient inflating time and rapid positioning, while helping to protect an occupant's torso area, including thorax, abdomen and pelvis;

• Steering wheels: enhances vehicle control, increases fuel savings and improves performance precision; and

• Tire Pressure Monitor Systems: include a basic and enhanced system that alerts drivers when tires are underinflated through a warning light on the instrument panel or locates underinflated tire(s) and displays individual warnings.

To learn more about TRW's safety technologies, visit the Company's website at www.trw.com.  

About TRW

With 2009 sales of $11.6 billion, TRW Automotive ranks among the world's leading automotive suppliers. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, USA, the Company, through its subsidiaries, operates in 26 countries and employs over 60,000 people worldwide. TRW Automotive products include integrated vehicle control and driver assist systems, braking systems, steering systems, suspension systems, occupant safety systems (seat belts and airbags), electronics, engine components, fastening systems and aftermarket replacement parts and services. All references to "TRW Automotive", "TRW" or the "Company" in this press release refer to TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. and its subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated. TRW Automotive news is available on the internet at www.trw.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains statements that are not statements of historical fact, but instead are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.  All forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties which can cause our actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements, including those set forth in our Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 (our "Form 10-K") and our Form 10-Q for each of the quarters ended April 2,  July 2, and October 1, 2010, such as: any shortage of supplies adversely affecting us; commodity inflationary pressures adversely affecting our profitability or supply base; disruptions in the financial markets adversely impacting the availability and cost of credit negatively affecting our business; any further material contraction in automotive sales and production adversely affecting our results, liquidity or the viability of our supply base; pricing pressures from our customers adversely affecting our profitability; the loss of any of our largest customers materially adversely affecting us; costs of product liability, warranty and recall claims and efforts by customers to adversely alter contract terms and conditions concerning warranty and recall participation; costs or liabilities relating to environmental, health and safety regulations; strengthening of the U.S. dollar and other foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacting our results; any increase in the expense of our pension and other postretirement benefits or the funding requirements of our pension plans; risks associated with non-U.S. operations, including foreign exchange risks and economic and political uncertainty in some regions; work stoppages or other labor issues at our facilities or at the facilities of our customers or suppliers; assertions by or against us relating to intellectual property rights; the possibility that our largest stockholder's interests will conflict with our or our other stockholders' interests; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in our Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any update or revision to any of the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.