Nexteer Automotive has now made 40m electric power steering (EPS) systems.
"The production milestone signifies a shift in industry demand for lateral control systems offering greater fuel efficiencies; tailored, tunable driving experiences; as well as enabling advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features," the supplier said in a statement.
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It claims to have been the first steering supplier to introduce Brushless Motor Controlled Column Assist EPS (CEPS) in 1999 for – Fiat and Volkswagen in Europe – and has since extended its product line to include Brush Motor Controlled C-EPS, Single and Dual Pinion Assist and Rack Assist variants tailored to global demand.
Nexteer's core EPS line accounts for 62% of the company's revenue, growing 22% year on year in the first half of 2016 and contributing to the company's US$24bn business backlog according to the 2016 interim results.
Since January 2013, Nexteer has doubled its EPS output in response to greater global demand. Its latest systems allow ADAS features such as lane keeping, pull compensation, park assist, active damping, stability control enhancements, active return, road shake reduction and variable effort steering.
The EPS systems use a combination of electric motors, actuators, sensors and controllers and are claimed to reduce fuel consumption by up to 6% and CO2 emissions by up to 8g/km.
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By GlobalDataIn 2010, Nexteer introduced a 12-volt EPS system, the first of its kind, for the full-size truck segment. Today, the company supplies nine of 10 full size trucks sold in the US. The company credits its EPS growth in part due to in-house design, manufacturing and validation as well as providing OEMs with steering systems that integrate seamlessly and achieve targets for efficiency, weight reduction and ADAS feature compatibility.
