Advanced microsystems for automotive applications 2008

With the total number of vehicles steadily increasing and soon approaching one billion, the world is facing serious challenges in terms of both safety of road transport and sustainability. Consequently the two major persistent issues for the automotive industry are improved safety and reduced emissions. The estimated number of road fatalities is about one million per year. Fast growth of mobility in the developing world and an accelerated urbanisation pose high demands to the automotive industry. Thanks to smart systems anticipating dangerous traffic situations road fatalities will have dropped by more than 30% from 2001 to 2010. Beyond intensive stock-rearing – with 30% the major contributor to climate change – road traffic is one of the main sectors contributing to climate change: exhaust gases from vehicle engines account for about 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions. Car industry is bearing this challenge and enormous progress has been achieved particularly during the last decade.