Automotive

Cameras, radar sensors and lidars keep an eye on the area around the vehicle. The next generation of the one-box brake-by-wire brake system, the MK C2, builds up the required brake pressure three times faster than the previous systems and can therefore react quickly and safely to different driving situations. For Continental, it also provides the basis for future brake systems. The lightweight “Green” Brake Caliper offers high braking performance with lower weight and significantly reduced residual brake torque – with the potential to save up to two grams of CO2 per vehicle. If an accident is unavoidable, the intelligent airbag control ensures that the airbag is deployed according to the occupants and the impact. These are just a few examples of Continental's safety technologies that will make driving even safer in the future.

For years, Continental has played a leading role in this development, which is also a central driving force in the market: when vehicles are comprehensively connected in the future, when their functions can be optimized or expanded at any time via updates, when their features are significantly determined by software – then this requires a completely new architecture of vehicle electronics. Continental supplies the technologies required for this, such as high-performance computers, zone control units, intelligent antenna modules, 5G telematics units, cloud applications and tailor-made software packages.

Rows of houses grow out of the display. A red stop sign hovers ten centimeters in front of the screen. In addition, numbers seem to magically hang in the air, indicateing the distance to the destination and the required travel time. And then this: Suddenly, on a smooth surface in wood, carbon or leather optics in the cockpit, the cover image of the driver’s favorite artist and virtual menu buttons for operating a music playlist appear. With such visual effects and an exciting design reduced to the essentials, Continental is revolutionizing the display and control surfaces in vehicles. Continental is taking the discipline “User Experience”, which is becoming increasingly important in automotive engineering, to a new level. 

What’s been happening in the automotive industry in terms of digitalization and connectivity in recent years – and, frankly, will be happening for years to come – can safely be called a technological disruption. Sure, vehicles have long been able to do much more than just getting you from A to B. Whether on or off the highway, in agriculture or the building sector, tomorrow's vehicles will not only be connected to the internet, but will become an integral part of it. That digital value chain will come with both benefits and challenges. While it will make fleets more efficient, more customer-focused and safer, it will also require smart solutions like sharing or multimodal transport services for organizing traffic. Smart Mobility, i.e. using intelligent information and communication technology in transport, traffic and mobile machines, will be a key factor for greater efficiency and safety – and, thus, for improving quality of life by reducing accidents, traffic congestion and emissions.

Automation will bring radical changes to some aspects of driving. In the future, increasing traffic density will give drivers time for other activities in the car that are still impossible today. Stop/start traffic and parking in tight parking spaces will no longer be daunting prospects. Advanced driver assistance systems already allow the owner to hand over vehicle guidance to the vehicle in certain situations. Continental is using its full innovative prowess to drive forward this trend and is developing intelligent technologies that take over more and more driving functions – as long as the driver wants them to. The advantage: increased safety, more comfort, more convenience, and more efficiency.