Shanghai China, April 21, 2005 – “ “We have realized localization of production in China of the Electronic Stability Program ESP® 8.0 , the world’s leading road safety system, in 2005.” At a press conference held prior to Auto Shanghai 2005, Juergen Knott, General Manager of Chassis Systems China, explained that 2005 is the 10th anniversary of the market introduction of Bosch’s ESP®,an electronic safety system now used worldwide. This year stands as a testament to Bosch’s continued innovation in the automotive industry. The theme of the Bosch press conference was that “Technology Achieves the Beauty of Life”.

“The generation ESP® 8.0 was first brought onto the market by Bosch in 2001. ESP®8.0 is lighter, its structure is more compact, and it is the smallest modular syetem in the world. As the world’s No.1 automotive supplier, Bosch has been speeding up the transfer of the world’s advanced technologies and products to China. At the same time, the company has been making all efforts to achieve localized production in order to fully support the sustainable development of China’s automotive industry,” Knott added.

ESP® has become a familiar English abbreviation for many Chinese vehicle fans and owners. However, ESP® is still unknown to most Chinese consumers, even though it is included as a standard feature in some high-class vehicles currently sold in the country. Most people don’t know what ESP® does or why they should have ESP® in their vehicles.

Knott explained that ESP® is an abbreviation for Electronic Stability Program. It integrates two technologies—ABS (Antilock Braking System) and TCS (Traction Control System) —it thus can prevent wheel from blocking during braking (ABS) and from slipping when driving off (TCS). and more it can reduce the danger of a skid and thus the risk of an accident. ESP® acts like greased lightning: 25 times per second it checks where the driver wants to go and where the vehicle is actually going. If it recognizes a critical situation, it reacts immediately. As such, ESP® is able to help drivers avoid accidents.

Choosing ESP® is not only appropriate for vehicle functions, but also necessary for people’s safety. People may make mistakes, road conditions change constantly. Even the most experienced drivers can lose control of their vehicle while driving in critical situations, such as skidding, turning, etc.“With ESP®, we can greatly increase safety when drivers are faced with sudden incidents and prevent accidents,” Knott reported.

Numerous studies are providing proof that ESP® effectively increases road safety. Studies by institutions such as the US Federal Agency “National Highway Traffic Safety Administration” (NHTSA) confirm these findings. Passenger cars in the United States that were equipped with ESP® as a standard feature from 1997 through 2002 had on average 35 percent less driving accidents than a comparable group of cars before the introduction of ESP® The number of fatal driving accidents was reduced by 30 percent. With SUVs, the impact was even greater: according to the NHTSA, the number of road accidents in this vehicle class was reduced by 67 percent, and that of fatal road accidents by 63 percent.

Published research shows that China’s roads are not as safe as roads in other countries. In 2002, the total number of vehicles on Chinese roads was just 9.24% of Europe’s. But the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents was 2.7 times that of Western Europe. Statistics from the Ministry of Public Security show that a total of 107,077 deaths were caused by traffic accidents in 2004. As a way to reduce traffic accidents and increase safety, 64 percent of all new vehicles in Germany were equipped with ESP® in 2004. The three biggest US car makers —General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler - all announced that they would provide ESP® as a standard feature on most of their SUV lineup by 2006. Toyota also announced in March of this year that it will make ESP® (called VSC by Toyota) the standard feature for all its vehicles within about10 years. Widely applying the ESP® system is undoubtedly a proven way to increase road safety in China. However, in 2004, vehicles with ESP® made up only 3% of the total car population in China. As ESP® cannot be installed after purchasing the car, Mr. Knott also reminded Chinese consumers to consider purchasing vehicles with the ESP® system already installed. This will ensure a safe and comfortable driving environment.

Knott emphasized that: “The advantages of the ESP® system are its convincing function and its safety benefit.” Currently, Bosch is promoting its ESP® system worldwide. In order to cut the number of people killed in road accidents in the EU in half by the year 2010, Bosch joined the “25,000 Lives to Save” campaign organized by the EU working group eSafety. Bosch was one of the first companies to join the team in April of last year. After visiting the Bosch booth at the International Motor Show held in Brussels on January 17, 2005, the Vice-President of the European Commission, Jacques Barrot, and other high ranking EU representatives, all agreed that 2005 will be the year of ESP®.

Knott also explained that ESP® will be extended with additional functions in the future. He said: “The ’ ESP® plus’ system from Bosch will be launched globally in 2005. The system’s added functions will enhance safety and comfort for the driver,e.g. through Electronic Brake Prefill, which reacts when the driver pulls his foot off the gas pedal suddenly. The system reacts to this scenario by placing the brake pads immediately in contact with the discs. This action helps to reduce the stopping distance if the driver then steps on the brake. In the case of heavy rain, Brake Disc Wiping frequently removes the film of moisture on the brake discs to improve the brakes performance. Following the launch of the ’ ESP® plus’ system, EHB3 (ESP® premium) will be launched in 2006.”

Market survey conducted by Bosch in China indicates that Chinese drivers do not yet have sufficient knowledge about safety systems and how they work. Bosch has therefore assumed the task of informing the general public about the benefits of the ESP® system in cars and is making great efforts to show the various applications of its ESP® product. In this context, Bosch created the training concept ESP® erience for Chinese car dealers. The goal is that in cooperating with Chinese car manufacturers, Bosch can help make sales persons more aware of the benefits that ESP® offers. The ESP® erience also offers a “hands on” experience to Chinese consumers; potential customers are allowed to test-drive an ESP® equipped vehicle.
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Editor Notes: Bosch ESP® System Stays with Safety

ESP® is an abbreviation for Electronic Stability Program. It integrates two proven technologies—the Antilock Braking System ABS and the Traction Control System TCS—that work together to prevent wheels from skidding during full braking and even during acceleration. As such, ESP® is able to help drivers avoid accidents.

An ESP® system is made up of a vehicle dynamics “controller,” which counteracts any skidding motion, and the antilock braking and traction control functions. As a car moves forward, the ESP® system works in two ways. It constantly assesses the probable intention of the person behind the wheel. At the same time, it is analyzing what danger wheel skid poses to vehicle safety. When the ESP® system decides that a moving vehicle is in danger, the system uses independent brakes on each wheel selectively, and also reduces the engine output. The vehicle will then follow the direction in which the driver intends the vehicle to go. Another added benefit of the ESP® system is that it increases the turning stability of vehicles under all conditions. Whatever ESP® is doing—preventing wheel skid or increasing stability—its actions help to reduce traffic accidents.

As early as 1983, engineers at Bosch gave thoughts to a better vehicle stability during full braking through an optimized ABS control. This approach was enhanced in the subsequent years, and the respective basic patent registration by Bosch was finally entered in the year 1987.1991 was the year the cooperation with DaimlerChrysler began, where similar considerations were made. A joint project house was established to this purpose in 1992. Just two years and six months later, the product was mature enough to be produced in large-scale, thus the manufacturing of the Electronic Stability Program started in March of 1995. ESP was installed in Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars for the first time. The reason for the ESP® system’s success lay in the convincing function and clearly recognizable safety benefit. In the following years, Bosch continued to optimize its design. In 1998, Generation 5.7 was started and in 2002 the Generation 8. Compared to the first system, the weight was brought down by 60 percent from 5.6 kg to 2.3 kg.

Since start of production, the basic ESP functions were extended by convenience and safety functions. For example, “Hill Descent Control (HDC)” was first installed in an SUV, which kept a regular speed when descending a steep hill. A great number of functions were added in the process: “Hill Hold” helps in starting a car up a steep hill, “Traffic Jam Assist” reacts when the driver of a car with automatic transmission takes the foot off the gas pedal, the braking system initiates a soft deceleration; the “Roll Over Mitigation” reduces the danger of a roll-over; the “Trailer Sway Control” reduces the risk of rocking of heavy trailers towed by passenger cars; “Load Adaptive Control” which identifies the actual vehicle weight in light trucks and accordingly adjusts the ESP® actions.

Bosch is going to further optimize its design and add more functions to the ESP® system over the next few years. The focus is on developing a scalable product line on the basis of ESP® which allows for a cost efficient integration of the various functional scopes. The first stage ESP® plus will start volume production in the first half year of 2005, another, considerably more extensive development stage, the EHB3 (ESP® Premium), in the year 2006. At the same time, Bosch is networking the passive safety systems with predictive driver assistance systems. Bosch comprises these activities in the CAPS program (Combined Active and Passive Safety Systems).

Numerous studies and analyses are providing proof to what extent ESP® effectively increases road safety. For example, in 2004, DaimlerChrysler confirmed that the standard deployment of ESP® in all Mercedes passenger cars reduced their share in “driving accidents” in Germany by some 42 percent. Driving accidents are accidents in which drivers lose the control of their cars without other road users being involved. After the evaluation of 1 million traffic accidents with bodily injuries, Toyota comes to the conclusion that the standard fitting of ESP® could even reduce the number of serious driving accidents by half. Studies by institutions like the US Federal Agency “National Highway Traffic Safety Administration” (NHTSA) confirm these findings. Passengers cars in the United States of America that had been fitted with ESP® as standard equipment as of a time from 1997 through 2002 had an average 35 percent less driving accidents than the reference number for the same type of vehicle models before the launching of ESP®. The number of fatal driving accidents was reduced by 30 percent. In the class of SUVs, the impact was even stronger: according to the study, the number of road accidents in this vehicle class was reduced by 67 percent, that of fatal road accidents by 63 percent.

Since it was launched, the ESP® system has won numerous prestigious awards for its outstanding functions and safety benefits. In 1995, ESP® was awarded the “Henry Ford II Distinguished Award for Excellence in Automobile Engineering” by the Society of Automobile Engineering (SAE). In 1999, it received the “Porsche Prize” of the University of Vienna. In the United Kingdom, the system was honored in 2004 with the “Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for Driver and Passenger Safety” for its positive impack on road safety. In 2005, ESP® received the “Genius” safety award from the Allianz Insurance company.

About the Bosch Group

Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, Robert Bosch GmbH has subsidiaries and affiliates in 259 locations in 55 countries. It is also one of the largest unlisted companies in the world. It was ranked No. 94 on the Fortune 500 list in 2004. In 2004, it posted total revenue of 40 billion euros. Employing approximately 242,000 people worldwide, of whom more than 13,000 are in China, the company is active in automotive technology, industrial technology, consumer goods and building technology. The eight product divisions of the Automotive Technology Sector include: Gasoline Systems, Diesel Systems, Chassis Systems, Energy and Body Systems, Car Multimedia, Automotive Electronics, ZF Steering Systems and Automotive Aftermarket.

Since it re-entered the China market in 1980’s, Bosch has set up 10 representative offices, 5 trading companies and 1 trading representative office, 11 wholly-owned enterprises and 9 joint ventures in the country, coordinated by the investment company - Bosch (China) Investment Ltd.. The group’s total investment in China has reached more than US$600 million. The key automotive companies in China are Bosch Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Bosch Automotive Products (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Wuxi Europe Asia Diesel Fuel Injection Co., Ltd., Nanjing Huade Spark Plug Co. Ltd., United Automotive Electronic Systems Co. Ltd.