TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. has joined the Automotive Open Systems Architecture (AUTOSAR) development partnership, the core members of which are BMW, Bosch, Continental, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, PSA, Siemens, Toyota and Volkswagen.
"The increasing complexity of automotive systems, which are dependent upon reliable electronics and software, is leading to the need for an industry standard that enables the successful management of automotive E/E architecture, said TRW Auto engineering manager Andrew Kingston.
The AUTOSAR standard is intended to serve as a basic infrastructure for the management of functions within standard software modules and software interfaces, resulting in significant improvement in software updates and upgrades over the vehicle lifetime. AUTOSAR foresees the completion of the test and verification phase of the proposed open industry standard by the end of 2006.
Separately, TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc. said it’s closing its airbag assembly plant in Cookeville, Tenn. due to “steadily increasing pricing pressure” and “the need to remain competitive to secure new business growth,” according to Dennie Boyer, vice president, operations, North America Occupant Safety Systems. He added, "This decision is not a reflection of the Cookeville operation or its workforce."