TRW Defines New Level of Safety With Integration of Active Seatbelt and Automatic Emergency Braking Systems

LIVONIA, Mich., Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TRW), today unveiled a new, intelligent safety system designed to enhance the protection of occupants in challenging driving situations or mitigate the effects of a crash. The system combines TRW's Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system with its Active Control Retractor (ACR) seatbelt technology to reinforce driver warning; improve occupant position in relation to the vehicle's airbag restraint system; and provide automatic braking support.

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Peter Lake, executive vice president for TRW sales and business development said: "We continue to see an even greater market demand for intelligent or 'cognitive' safety systems.  Our focus is on delivering solutions for the full range of vehicles from luxury models through to low cost cars in emerging markets.

"New legislation, such as the mandates for ABS and airbags in Brazil, ESC in Europe and North America, and automatic emergency braking systems on trucks in Europe, open up a wealth of possibilities for safety integration to deliver greater value for vehicle manufacturers and the consumer.  Our combination of AEB and ACR is just one example of how TRW is taking safety to the next level."

Working in isolation, the two systems use data from environmental and vehicle dynamics sensors to offer automatic emergency braking support without driver intervention, or remove seatbelt slack to help maintain the position of the driver or passenger in anticipation of airbag deployment.

Alois Seewald, global director for integrated active and passive safety technologies said: "By integrating the two systems we are able to realize a higher level of safety:  the ACR can provide an additional warning to the driver when a critical situation is detected and pretension the seatbelt a split second sooner than an ACR system working only based on vehicle dynamics sensors information. Although we're talking about milliseconds, it can help to mitigate the impact of a crash."

The integrated system utilizes a mid range radar in combination with a scalable video camera which independently gather data of the road and traffic situation in front of the host vehicle: the radar looks forward up to 150 meters, while the camera covers a closer, but wider field of view and helps to detect and classify objects in front.

If the sensors detect a critical situation, the driver is alerted to the potential danger (visual, audible or haptic feedback) and the ACR system pretensions the seat belt which can provide an additional warning to the driver as well as remove seat belt slack to help maintain the position of the occupant prior to  airbag deployment. Furthermore, a certain amount of brake pressure will be applied automatically.

If the sensors detect an unavoidable impact – and in the case of insufficient or no driver reaction – the ACR will be applied with maximum force prior to the impact, to minimize the forward displacement of the occupant. AEB is the final action as maximum brake pressure is applied – ensuring the highest speed reduction after the 'point of no return'.

Seewald continued: "The combination of TRW's ACR and AEB systems helps ensure that the seat belt is pretensioned well in advance of a potential collision, helping to maintain occupant position and assisting in the effectiveness of other restraints and safety measures."

The system will be ready for production in 2013. TRW's ACR system has been in production since 2002 and is currently available on a number of vehicles including Mercedes, Hyundai, Jaguar and Audi vehicles.

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 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; 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.