Electronics is the key technology for further reducing of emissions and consumption of internal combustion engines.

      Dr. Klaus Egger, member of the Siemens VDO Automotive AG Managing Board and head of the Powertrain business unit, speaking to the 26th International Vienna Motor Symposium, said: “Innovative combustion processes, new exhaust gas treatment systems and hybrid engines are only conceivable with high performance sensors and control units.”

      The reliability of the automobile will not diminish, but rather will improve as a result of the increased use of electronics.

      “Electronics are not only an innovation driver,” he said. “They have also contributed to the significant reduction in breakdown frequency in the last 30 years.”

      The positive effect of automotive electronics on consumption and emissions is already demonstrable today. From the introduction of the first European Exhaust Gas Standard (Euro I) in 1993 to the current Euro IV Standard, the pollutants carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and nitrogen have all been reduced by more than 95 percent. Although the exhaust gas after treatment necessary for this increases consumption, fleet consumption - that is the average consumption of all new vehicles - fell by more than 20 percent during the period from 1990 to 2003. Electronically controlled injection systems have played the key role here. The brain of these systems is the engine control unit.

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