The deal includes all of Delphi’s PSS assets in Europe: patents, various intellectual properties and physical assets. It also includes supply contracts with top customers such as Daimler and the Volkswagen Group.
The aforementioned assets are predicted to generate sales of around $10 million during the course of the current year.
The PSS technology is a key safety feature based on the airbag technology infrastructure. When an accident occurs, the PSS isolates the battery from the vehicle’s electrical system in order to prevent short circuits and reduce the risk of a fire. The system relies on the airbag deployment system for activation.
The technology has a special importance in the all-electric and hybrid vehicles segment, which include extremely complex electrical circuits. Specific PSS applications have been developed for this vehicles: they include crash protection for all of the vehicles’ circuits and battery packs. This makes the PSS technology an important asset, as the new energy vehicles market is expected to grow in the future.
"This acquisition supplements our efforts to grow in the passive safety market and in particular supports our focus on improving safety in vehicles using not only traditional combustible engines, but alternative fuel technologies such as hybrids or batteries," Autoliv president and CEO Jan Carlson was quoted as saying by just-auto.com. "With the trend towards smaller vehicles and alternative energies in many light vehicles, the demand for products such as the PSS will likely become more important in the future."
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