August, 2015 - Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, recently presented its portfolio of advanced safety and driving assistance technologies. Preliminary results from its latest accident research study, which focuses on the effectiveness of the Electronic Stability Program (ESP?), were also presented. The preliminary re-search from Bosch highlights the installation of the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) can avoid around 70 per cent of all skidding accidents on highways in India.

As per a study released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) an accident takes place every minute and every four minutes a death resulting from the-se accidents is reported. "With sixteen people dying every hour in road accidents India is the single largest contributor to road deaths across the world. Last year, the country accounted for nearly three per cent more fatalities than 2013 of which around a-third of the victims were in the age-bracket of 15-25 years. Such a high rate of causality occurring due to road accidents draws attention to the need for advanced safety and driver assistance systems in India," said Klaus Maeder, executive vice president, Chassis Systems Control, Robert Bosch GmbH. Elaborating further he stated, "To address this situation it is important for all stakeholders across the spectrum to come together and offer solutions that best address this rising concern. Few Indian OEMS already offer such features and customer's preference for such models has been encouraging and is a sign for need of more safety features."

Since its introduction globally, the ESP has prevented 190,000 accidents and saved more than 6,000 lives. In India, of the approximate 140,000 fatalities, accidents arising due to loss of control estimate for nearly 12 percent. It is studied that the ESP can prevent up to 70 per cent of this estimation. In Europe, research suggests that if installed in 100 per cent of all vehicles, predictive emergency braking systems can prevent up to 72 per cent of all rear-end collisions that result in personal injury. "As a company that is leading the electronics wave in the mobility industry, it is observed that today's customer insists on mitigation of injury and risk, vehicle damage and assigns paramount importance to personal safety. Advanced driver assistance systems coupled with accident avoidance technologies, such as Automated Emergency Braking, and Driver Monitoring systems can best address such requirements of the customer," said Dr Hans-Peter H?bner, executive vice president Chassis Systems Control, Robert Bosch GmbH.

India's automobile industry is estimated to become one of the top three markets for the industry in the next five years, besides United States and China. Currently, for every 1,000 persons only 15 buy a car in India, thus both local and global automakers see huge potential in this country. As per Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), India's auto sector is expected to grow to almost 10 million units by 2020 that is almost the double of what was achieved in 2014. Indicators such as an optimistic GDP forecast, improved consumer sentiment- where the middle class is keen to invest more and one of the first few purchases they are likely to make is an automobile- these signs augur well for the industry.

"Over the past few years, the installation rate of ABS has risen steadily in the Indian market. Acceptance of technologies like ABS and airbags is rapidly growing for OEMs as well as end customers. Bosch's accident research analysis of India specific data now clearly underscores the significant benefits that advanced vehicle safety systems such as Electronic Stability Program can achieve. We think, ESP which has seen widespread adoption in the developed markets will soon become very relevant for the Indian market," said Mr Kartikeya Joshi, senior general manager, Sales and Marketing, Bosch Chassis Systems India Limited.

Since the set-up of its manufacturing plant in Pune in November 2009, Bosch has made heavy investment including the inauguration of a second line in 2013. Leveraging from its wide international network that possesses broad and in-depth technical know-how, Bosch strives to provide its best to its local and global customers based in India. Over the past five years the vehicular safety business unit in India has registered strong double-digit growth, which is in line with its vision to grow faster than the market.

In line with the 'Make in India' campaign, Bosch is very keen on driving its local-for-local approach. "We are confident of the growth of the active safety market in India and Bosch is committed to upgrade its investments and competencies to match market demands. To that end, over the past five years Bosch has already localized the value chain of vehicular safety systems such as the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chakan, Maharashtra, vehicle application engineering and local software development capabilities. Such measures go a long way in reducing cost and increasing local content. A key milestone that the company achieved was the production of over one million active safety systems in India in 2014," said Mr Kartikeya Joshi.