May 7,2008  From Auto News

May 7--Industry executives from Nick Reilly, president of General Motors Asia Pacific, to Wang Fengying, president of China’s Great Wall Motor Co., say emerging markets are hungry for small, low-cost cars. 
     
Visteon Corp. figures its research center in Shanghai gives it a head-start in the race to develop components for small cars. 
     
 "If you want to develop a low-cost architecture, to try to do that in Europe or the U.S. is very difficult," says Steve Meszaros, vice president of the global electronics group for Visteon. "The mindset is different." 
     
The Yanfeng Visteon China Technical Center opened in November of 2005. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. was a joint investor in the center. Initial investment was 250 million yuan, or $30 million at 2005 exchange rates. 
     
The center has already developed an audio system, called Tiger, aimed at the low-cost segment. 
     
The Tiger platform is low-end, "almost commodity," says Meszaros. But the platform is flexible. It has analog and digital versions. Some versions are a mere radio and USB link, says Meszaros. 
     
A platform, or architecture, is a term commonly used to refer to the chassis and powertrain of a car. Auto manufacturers such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors are moving to global platforms that can be used in multiple locations, with minor modifications for the local market. 
     
Visteon applies the same concept to its products, says Meszaros. 
     
Though Tiger was developed in China, it was launched in South Ameri ca because the opportunity arose there first, he says. Future development on the Tiger platform will also be done in China, says Meszaros. 
     
Development on Tiger began in China in early 2005. Beforehand, Visteon was sending China systems designed for developed markets such as the United States. They were too expensive for emerging markets, says Meszaros. 
     
"Nobody was developing cheaper alternatives. (And) when they were trying to do that, it was too slow and just wasn’t going to meet the cost targets," says Meszaros. 
     
He had a solution: Do the development in China. 
     
In early 2005, Visteon acquired Jiangsu Toppower Automotive Electronics Co., a leader in China’s audio industry. 
     
"They were totally focused on this low-cost market supplying customers like Chery. So they played a big role in (Tiger’s) development," he says. 
     
Shortly after, construction began on the China technical center. The center now houses 250 people, most of them engineers. 
     
Engineers from the center and Toppower worked together to develop the Tiger platform. 
     
It is a global platform, using global suppliers, says Meszaros. For example, it is based on an NEC microprocessor. 
     
It’s impossible to mention low-cost small cars these days without the Nano question popping up. The tiny Nano was developed by Tata Motors Ltd. in India for a planned cost to dealers of about $2,500. 
     
"We were already working on (low-cost systems), but (the Nano) did focus us on accelerating to the next level ," he says of the Nano. 
     
Visteon now has a big initiative focused on developing technologies for a low-cost car. 
     
Says Meszaros: "That’s one of the missions of this tech center now."

Editor: Haijing Qu