Bosch says it is actively engaged with municipal authorities as it looks to its technology to solve some of the most pressing urban congestion issues plaguing large cities.
Advent of new technology is rapidly transforming the mobility landscape, but its impact will be limited unless solutions are found to ever-increasing urban population growth and the demand for transport
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“We are very, very engaged with cities,” Bosch VP Original Equipment Sales, Hanno Miorini told just-auto at this year’s Central & European Automotive Forum in Budapest. “My colleague from the UK [for example] is engaged with London Transport.
“It is not just about the powertrain, it is managing the whole mobility situation. We will certainly engage with urban planner discussions. We have a new sensor box regarding air quality management, which can measure NOX particle matter and noise.
“This sensor is rather cost competitive and very accurate and can be used to control the traffic flow.
“Some cities we have been talking to [say] we don’t want to have vehicles at all, which on one hand was a surprising statement, but some cities are adapting.”
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By GlobalDataThe Bosch VP questioned whether future users would regard brands as important, or would simply use vehicles to move from A to B, regarding mobility as a service rather than a privately-owned concept.
Miorini also noted car production globally was starting to stabilise at around 90m year, meaning manufacturers would be looking at other business opportunities such as vehicle content to drive value.
“The content of software will increase of course,” added Miorini. “What we plan to do in the future is go into [the] mobility life cycle that includes connectivity services through our Bosch cloud. It could be the whole supply chain could be different.
“We are aiming for no emissions, no accidents and no stress. We at Bosch think we have to think seriously about fuel cells. We have to look from well to wheel, from cradle to grave. We think it will be a number of solutions which will drive us further.
“The internal combustion engine will be here for a long [time]. Rural Austria for example, the car will be of the essence.”
Miorini’s comments concerning transport in isolated communities comes on the year anniversary of the Gilets Jaunes protests in France, which saw widespread protests against fuel price hikes spread to larger political discontent with Paris.
