TRW Establishes Driver Assist Systems Engineering Center in North America

TRW Automotive, the global leader in active and passive safety systems, has announced the establishment of its second North American Driver Assist Systems (DAS) Engineering Center at the Company’s Livonia, Michigan headquarters. The new engineering center will focus on the development and testing of advanced radar applications to support TRW’s North American customers, and will work closely with the Camera Development Center located in nearby Farmington Hills, Michigan.

The new center’s establishment is part of TRW’s global strategy to provide customers with professional application support for sophisticated DAS applications on each of the three major continents; the Company has also placed resident DAS engineers in Japan and Korea. The new DAS center will also utilize the world class labs and test track facilities already established in the region and will work closely with well-established European DAS engineering centers in Birmingham, UK, and Koblenz, Germany, while liaising with the company’s specialist radar production facility in Brest, France, thereby ensuring the best possible customer support from the design stage to final delivery.

TRW is a recognized industry leader in the design, development and manufacture of DAS. It has been supplying radar-based collision warning and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems since 2002 and launched its camera-based active Lane Keeping Assist system in 2008. TRW is already demonstrating the increased benefits of the integration (fusion) of these two technologies to enhance the overall safety of a vehicle through working demonstration vehicles. This formation and linkage of the DAS engineering centers in North America will further enhance TRW’s capabilities to provide industry leadership and deliver these benefits to its North American customers.

“We have extended our global Center of Competence for ‘Vision Systems’ in Farmington Hills to include a full-fledged DAS application center for North America,” said Martin Thoone, vice president, Global Electronics engineering. “We have now enhanced our customer support across the full range of DAS applications, including camera, radar and sensor fusion applications. Bundling our Braking expertise in Livonia with our know-how in Passive Safety in Farmington Hills puts TRW in a unique position to deliver all integrated active and passive safety related Driver Assistance functions to fulfill our Cognitive Safety vision.”

The new center will specialize in vehicle- and application-level DAS development and will take full advantage of the synergies available with the North America braking technical center in Livonia that houses hundreds of design, test, mechanical, electrical and application engineers. The establishment of these centers represents a significant increase in TRW’s dedicated DAS product line engineering strength in North America and this specialist team will be closely supported across all the development disciplines by our very substantial existing resources.

Ed Carpenter, vice president, Global Electronics, commented: “As we continue our focused efforts on the expansion of the TRW global electronics business, we see Driver Assist Systems as a critical growth area for the Company. The establishment of our second North American DAS center is another sign of our commitment to this product line and to the customers in the region – we expect these valuable safety and convenience technologies to have a bright future here.”

With 2008 sales of $15.0 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 approximately 64,000 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.