Press

• Bosch celebrates the 15-year anniversary of the Electronic Stability Program ESP®
• Smallest brake control system in the market with up to 30 percent less weight and volume than the previous version
• The United Nations declare 2011–2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety

In 2010, Bosch celebrates the 15-year anniversary of the Electronic Stability Program ESP® – an active automotive safety system that has been recognized by safety experts as the most important life-saving technology after the seat belt.

Fifteen years ago, Bosch was the first supplier to mass produce the Electronic Stability Program ESP®.

ESP® assists drivers in dangerous skidding situations and monitors the vehicle’s stability: 25 times per second, it compares whether the driver’s steering input corresponds to the actual direction in which the vehicle is moving.

If the vehicle goes into a skid, ESP® detects the critical situation and intervenes immediately. To do this, it uses the vehicle’s braking system as a tool for “steering” the vehicle back on track.

The share of cars equipped with ESP® is on the rise
Automotive technologies can make an important contribution to increasing safety if they are widely used. Around one third of all new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (up to six metric tons) worldwide are equipped with the ESP® system.

A trend of transition from ABS to ESP® has been observed in many regions. The worldwide share of ABS-equipped vehicles is 80%. ESP® is forecasted to be installed in every second vehicle by 2012.

In Russia, 58% of all new passenger cars sold in 2009 were equipped with ABS and only 19% with ESP®. Compared with 2008, the number of cars equipped with either of these systems grew by 2%.

Despite active safety systems being installed in an increasing number of car models, there is still considerable potential for increasing the share of ABS- and ESP-equipped minis, subcompacts and compacts, as well as SUVs.

New ABS/ESP Generation 9
In 2010, Bosch starts mass production of ninth-generation ESP® and ABS. Generation 9 is up to 30% smaller and lighter than the previous Generation 8.

It offers the lightest and most compact systems on the market today. The new-generation ESP® weighs only 1.6 kg and ABS only 1.1 kg.

Thanks to the modular technology used in ninth-generation systems, Bosch offers effective solutions for all types of vehicles – from subcompacts to SUVs to luxury cars to light-duty commercial vehicles.

Bosch is optimizing and reducing the costs of ESP® and ABS, thereby supporting the efforts of the global community and the automotive industry in particular to integrate active safety systems in the basic features of every car.

No cars without ESP®
The contribution of ESP® to increasing road safety has received wide recognition in many countries. Accordingly, the U.S. and Canada have enacted regulations in conjunction with which all cars with a full mass of up to 4.54 tons must be equipped with ESP® as of September 2011.

In Australia, ESP® will be installed in all passenger cars by November 2013 according to Australian Design Rule (ADR) 31/02.

General safety regulation approved by the European Parliament for all EU member states requires the mandatory use of ESP® in all vehicles, including light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty commercial transport, as of November 2014.

Decade of Action for Road Safety
In March 2010, the UN General Assembly declared 2011–2020 the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Despite progress in recent years, the number of road accidents remains unacceptably high – every year, 1.3 million people die in car accidents and 50 million are injured.

The goal of the UN initiative is to reduce forecasted road-accident deaths by 50% by 2020 with a system of measures at local and international levels. More than 100 countries support the UN resolution.

Among the main priorities of the Decade of Action for Road Safety are improvement of road infrastructure and development of vehicle safety measures.

Accordingly, contemporary and future active automotive safety technologies designed to prevent accidents will play an important role.

Along with improvement of infrastructure and driving skills, they are recognized as an integral part of a systematic approach towards road safety.

For additional information, contact:
Julia Golubtsova, OOO Robert Bosch 
Tel.:  +7 495 937-04-02   
Fax: +7 495 935-71-99   
e-mail: julia.golubtsova@ru.bosch.com 

9 June, 2010