ZF has announced a spend of around EUR2.9m at its radar factory located in Brest, France. The money is being used for new equipment, tooling and components for the development of a new radar sensor as well as a 500 square metre expansion of the warehouse.
Peter Austen, head of driver assist systems, said: "Radar is a fundamental part of the automated driving equation. When combined with camera, intelligent control units and actuators, it can help to enable partially automated driving functions such as Highway Driving Assist with automated lane change. Together with our advanced camera systems, our AC1000 family is an ideal solution to meet Euro NCAP requirements up to 2020."
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ZF's radar systems are designed, assembled and tested at Brest which currently occupies approximately 2,200 square metres. The factory produces around 300,000 units per year and the company anticipates that this figure will exceed a million by 2020.
Mickael Leon, plant manager, added: "Brest has been our global centre of excellence for radar systems since the turn of the century. Our ongoing investment in the plant shows our commitment to the technology – one where we anticipate significant volume increases as the market adoption of active safety and automated driving systems continues to accelerate. Furthermore, we have an exceptionally skilled workforce which has increased by nearly 30% over the last 18 months. We are investing further in our engineering resources as this area of the business continues to expand."
ZF TRW has designed and developed radar in Brest since 1999 and started production with its first generation system in 2002. Since then, the company has launched radar on multiple global passenger car and truck platforms, and with the AC1000 family, it is entering its fifth generation.
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