Cohda Wireless increases V2X visibility in Europe

Cohda Wireless, a global leader in connected vehicletechnology, has increased its European presence by recruiting automotiveindustry veteran Bernd Luebben to lead its new office in Germany.

As Vice President of Business Development, Bernd joinsthe Cohda Wireless management team with responsibility for business developmentglobally.

Bernd brings more than 20 years of automotive andsemiconductor industry experience to Cohda Wireless, after working with Continental,Motorola TCG, and Volcano (now known as Mentor Graphics). At Texas Instruments,he led the company’s European Automotive Sales & Application team.

Demonstrating the importance of the European market,Cohda Wireless CEO Paul Gray is currently based in Germany for three months,collaborating with tier one partners to detail final specifications forconnected car technology, which is expected in production vehicles from 2016.

Cohda Wireless’ expansion into Europe follows last year’sopening of its U.S. office in the Michigan city of Farmington Hills, close tokey OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and tier one customers. It alsocapitalizes on momentum from last month’s announcement by the U.S. Departmentof Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) thatit will start taking steps to enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communicationtechnology for light vehicles.

V2V technology promises to improve vehicle safety byallowing cars to “talk” to each other and ultimately avoid manycrashes by exchanging basic safety data, such as speed and position, 10 timesper second. Cohda Wireless is a pioneer in V2X technology, which incorporatesboth vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. More thanhalf of all vehicles involved in V2X trials globally contain Cohda equipment,including 1,500 of the 2,800 vehicles involved in the important Safety PilotModel Deployment at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Cohda Wireless CEO Paul Gray said Bernd’s appointmentprovided increased visibility of Cohda’s ground-breaking technology in theEuropean market. “Cohda Wireless stands on the threshold of widespreadadoption of V2X technology by the automotive sector,” he said.

“Bernd brings deep skills in strategic planning andbusiness development, primarily in the area of Telematics where he has managedkey relationships with international OEMs and customers.”

Bernd Luebben said Cohda Wireless offered a technologythat would help re-shape the car industry globally. “Like seat belts andAnti-lock Braking Systems, car-to-car communications is a great leap forward invehicle safety,” he said.

“Being located in Cohda’s new Munich office allowsme to focus on the European market, working alongside companies including ourinvestor NXP Semiconductors and European OEMs. Cohda is a very exciting companyto work for during a fascinating transition period for the global carindustry.”

About Cohda Wireless

Cohda Wireless is an equipment vendor in the CooperativeIntelligent Transport Systems (ITS) market. The company manufactures hardwareproducts with acknowledged best-in-world performance and has developed completesoftware solutions (from network layer to applications layer) for this market.Cisco and NXP Semiconductors are strategic investors in Cohda Wireless. Cohda’shardware and software products are being used in car-to-car field trialsworldwide today. Our customers include a large number of carmakers, tier onesuppliers, automotive chip makers, road authorities, as well as new marketentrants. Cohda’s products are already in use in the USA, Europe, Australia,Japan, and Korea. For more information, visit www.cohdawireless.com.