German steel giant ThyssenKrupp claims it has developed 40 new components and solutions for the automotive industry that will save up to 8g of C02 per kilometre and 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per vehicle on an overall life cycle basis.
The 40 new components in question are part of a research project initiated by the company and called InCar plus.
Heinrich Hiesinger, ThyssenKrupp's CEO said that the automotive industry accounts for a quarter of sales (almost EUR10 billion). He said that the mobility sector will continue to grow in the long term.
The whole point of InCar plus is to highlight ThyssenKrupp's competencies in relation to the automotive sector and focus upon green solutions, electromobility and weight reduction.
According to ThyssenKrupp, the InCar plus programme is designed to find solutions for automotive manufacturers in terms of the body, chassis, steering and powertrain. The company claims that '...each InCar plus innovation is superior to the current state-of-the-art in at least one of these categories'.
The InCar plus project has involved 100 engineers from eight companies within the ThyssenKrupp stable. The top brains from Steel Europe, Components Technology, Industrial Solutions and Systems Engineering have come together, giving the steelmaker what Hiesinger said was the ability to systematically leverage 'its synergies as a diversified industrial group'.
ThyssenKrupp said that OEMs know from the outset how the use of a certain material or part will affect the carbon footprint of their vehicles and that weight reduction is an important contribution factor.
The first order for an InCar plus motor vehicle has already been received and ThyssenKrupp plans to present its innovations to the automotive industry in Europe, Asia and the Americas.