Over the next five to 10 years, Lear's advanced electronics strategy will be to provide the consumer with an interactive personal exchange between the vehicle, home, work, and commerce. We expect that OEMs will be able to deliver this kind of environment more quickly by using more complete solutions from their suppliers. Our work with GM and the G-Van project is an example of where Lear delivered the entire interior to GM's specifications.
In terms of the interactive cockpit, telematics will play a key role. Drivers will want to have entertainment in the form of on-demand music, information through voice- and e-mail, plus concierge services, navigation and traffic reports, distress-call capability and electronically accessed roadside assistance, as well as the ability to conduct e-commerce from the car. In four or five years, a Bluetooth gateway will possess the potential to turn the vehicle into an office on wheels.
The cockpit will become even more of an extension of the driver's personality with increasing customization and reconfigurability. The driver will additionally have greater control through advanced electronics and active safety systems, such as active occupant detection.
Lear will stay ahead of and shape these trends through it's system-integration capabilities, program management, and just-in-time (JIT) delivery and sequencing.
As an interior integrator, our cutting-edge technology puts us in a good position to shape these developments. But we won't do it alone. We will do it with our strategic partners through our 31 engineering centers worldwide and our four technology centers. We have 450 designers, and 212 of them are trained on UniGraphics. Our testing capabilities include environmental performance, interior-system, and component durability as well as static air-bag deployment.
Our company's patented Intertronics provides us with the ability to integrate a vehicle's interior trim components with electrical and electronics systems and modules.
The company will incorporate new multimedia technology that's expected to result in significant changes over the next 10 years. Standards in this area remain elusive, but Lear is set to address the reliability and flexibility of these standards as they emerge and are utilized in multimedia products.
In total, the company has 19 JIT facilities located in North America, three in South American, nine in Europe, and four facilities in the Asia-Pacific area.
These capabilities and skill sets will allow us to be a global leader in supplying full interiors to automakers worldwide. Lear will be able to deliver premium-class products utilizing best practices in all disciplines from styling to logistics.