Visteon Defines the Future of Automotive Design With Superintegration(TM)

FRANKFURT, Germany (PROTEXT) - Visteon Automotive Systems isleading an automotive industry revolution withSuperintegration(TM) -- an innovative technology destined todefine the future of automotive design. With Visteon's unsurpassed Superintegration technology,automotive manufacturers have a remarkable opportunity tocompletely redesign vehicle systems to save weight and cost,improve space and packaging, and incorporate leading-edgetechnologies to maximize quality and reliability. "Visteon's Superintegration capabilities are unparalleled inthe industry," said Stephen Delaney, vice president, Interior andExterior systems, Visteon. "In fact, automotive manufacturersrecently rated Visteon the top systems integrator among allautomotive suppliers." In developing Superintegration, Visteon made fundamentalchanges in its organizational thinking, technology innovations,and ideas about modularity. The results have vastly improvedVisteon's ability to reconfigure vehicle features to meet theneeds and interests of consumers. Other benefits include: * 30 percent weight savings * 20 percent cost improvements * 30 percent quality improvements * 50 percent faster product development time * 50 percent fewer number of parts "In working at the highest level of Superintegration, we haveset aside assumptions about what is and isn't possible in thedesign and manufacture of vehicles, and have advanced the entireindustry," Delaney concluded. Suppliers around the world face an ever increasing demand fromautomotive manufacturers to deliver a higher degree of value intheir products. Visteon's Superintegration capabilities allow theorganization to deliver customer systems that have been designedas integrated solutions from the outset. Unlike some efforts to assemble disparate modules into asystem, Visteon experts engineer an entire system -- such as theintegrated cockpit -- as a single unit designed to meet theunique needs of customers. "Visteon's Superintegration is truly a culmination of theextraordinary systems integration expertise we offer to ourcustomers," said Visteon President Craig Muhlhauser. "We haveevery strategic capability necessary to produce the most advancedintegrated systems available today -- this is the future ofautomotive systems design." Visteon's vast technological resources and broad systemsexpertise have carried the Superintegration concept to newlevels: * The current level in development of Superintegrationincorporates a magnesium cross car beam in the cockpit whichreduces weight and allows manufacturers to integrate a number ofbrackets into the beam casting process. The cockpit uses fewerparts, improves sound and vibration deadening and increases thespace available for storage and vehicle functions. Air ducts areintegrated; electronics are partially integrated. The designbegins to move away from conventional round wire and introducessome usage of flat-wire technology. This cockpit has a fullyintegrated and fully featured instrument cluster with fivegauges, warning lights and message center. * The next level of Superintegration will integrate moduleelectronics, housings, brackets and heatsinks in the cockpit.Flatwire or autoneural technology will be incorporated throughoutthis cockpit. Because electronics are shared throughout thiscockpit, the radio will be integrated into the module and will nolonger be a box, resulting in tremendous space savings. Othersystems, such as the air conditioning system, will be fullyintegrated into the cockpit. * Beyond that, future levels of Superintegration will advanceelectronic design by functionally combining the electronics, wireharness, connectors and modules. This will be achieved by'populating' the electronics directly onto the flatwire,eliminating the need for circuit boards. This technology,developed, designed and patented by Visteon, is unique in thesupplier industry and will offer Visteon customers the capabilityto incorporate the most advanced technologies into their vehicledesigns. "We believe Superintegration is a vitally important technologyfor vehicle manufacturers," said Dave Scroggie, Interior Systemsand Superintegration manager, Visteon. "We can help our customersmeet the demands of their customers by improving quality, savingcost and weight, and opening up space for even more features." "Superintegration also offers vehicle manufacturers a level ofplug-and- play flexibility which they currently don't have inconventional cockpits," Scroggie continued. "And we are usingadvanced Computer Aided Engineering tools to design these systemsand insure that they meet and exceed our customers designexpectations." With a global delivery system of more than 125 technical,manufacturing, sales and service facilities located in 21countries, Visteon Automotive Systems is leveraging the talentsof its 77,000 employees to deliver innovative, consumer-drivensystems solutions to its customers. ots Original Text Service:Visteon Automotive Systems Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.deContact: Giavanna M. Palazzolo of Visteon, 313-317-9121, orgpalazzo@visteon.com Web site: http://media.visteon.com Website: http://www.visteon.com

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