ZF Group has rebranded its Passive Safety Systems division to “ZF LIFETEC”. 

The new identity brings a chapter in the Passive Safety Systems division’s future allowing it to be a standalone company, utilising its position in the competitive automotive division. The change is made in order to legally separate the Passive Safety Systems division within the ZF Group. 

ZF Group started the process of separating the division in October 2022. The division achieved sales of around EUR 4.7 billion in 2023. ZF LIFETEC has committed to a clear outline aimed at boosting sales and profitability driven by the automotive industry's megatrends and increasingly strict safety standards.

ZF LIFETEC is has a global presence in 46 locations across 18 countries and a market share of more than 20 percent of global sales in its core product categories. Some of the products in its portfolio include inflatable restraint systems, steering wheel systems and seat belt systems, ranging from small vehicles in the volume segment to luxury vehicles. It’s relationships with a diversified customer base of global OEMs position ZF LIFETEC well for future growth opportunities. 

“Our Passive Safety Systems division has developed excellently. As a standalone brand, ZF LIFETEC gains the strategic scope to further accelerate sales growth and profitability,” said Dr Holger Klein, CEO — ZF Group. “The carve-out is progressing well and we continue to explore options to further develop ZF LIFETEC in the future,” he added.

“Today’s announcement of the new brand ZF LIFETEC is a visible signal, both internally and externally, of the independent positioning and aspirations of the Passive Safety Systems division,” stated Dr Martin Fischer, Member, Board of Management — ZF Group (Passive Safety Systems division).

“Our new ZF LIFETEC brand combines our mission of saving lives with our technology driven approach. We are aiming for growth, driven by automotive megatrends and globally rising levels of safety regulations. Our new brand stands for an extraordinary level of safety for vehicle occupants,” added Rudolf Stark, Head — ZF Passive Safety Systems.

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Tata Consultancy Services, a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions company, has further expanded its capabilities in the rapidly evolving Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV) space with the addition of three new engineering centres in Europe. This marks the firm’s long-term strategy to strengthen its end-to-end automotive software capabilities, chip-to-cloud technologies and services.

The company has set up two new Automotive Delivery Centers in Germany – located in Munich and Villingen-Schwenningen as well as an engineering centre in Romania.

The German facilities the company shared will support automakers in developing and deploying TCS’ software-driven services that cater to autonomous driving, infotainment, safety systems and connected vehicle technologies. On the other hand, the Romanian facility will focus on designing and building advanced automotive software platforms to support early-stage development and innovation.

The new facilities will enable close collaboration with OEMs in Europe and global automotive enterprises.

At present, the company has onboarded over 100 professionals in Europe who will work together with more than 2,000 SDV Engineers across TCS global locations. This diverse and global talent pool will enable the development of next generation automotive platforms for digital cockpits and infotainment, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and other critical SDV functions — supporting the full product lifecycle from concept and development to production and post-launch support.

Regu Ayyaswamy, Senior Vice-President & Global Head, Internet of Things (IoT) and Digital Engineering at TCS, said, “These new centres will position TCS at the forefront of automotive innovation, enabling us to deliver state-of-the-art solutions in autonomous driving and advanced cockpit systems. This expansion reaffirms our commitment to leading the transformation in the Software-Defined Vehicles space.”

Anupam Singhal, President and Business Group Head, Manufacturing, TCS, said, “The shift to software-defined vehicles marks a defining moment for the automotive industry. With the launch of these new centres, we are deepening our commitment to support OEMs in building the next generation of intelligent, connected, and sustainable vehicles. This expansion is a key milestone in our journey toward Future-Ready Mobility — where software, engineering and design, backed by AI, converge to deliver safer, more personalised and continuously enriching experiences for drivers and passengers.”

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Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, has announced the winners of the 9th Cohort of its flagship Accelerator program.

The winners include six Indian startups: Frinks AI, mistEO, Adagrad, Com Olho, ProSolvr and Eligere and three German startups: Caire AI, Syn2Core and Talonic, under the newly introduced Global Startups category. This marked the first global cohort where a total of 19 startups from India and 7 from Germany participated to showcase their ideas/solutions across domains such as AI, cybersecurity, road safety, quality control, EV charging infra and battery swapping among others.

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said, “Startups bring fresh thinking and new ideas. Through the Maruti Suzuki Accelerator program, we have been working with them to co-create future-ready solutions that enhance customer experience and drive operational efficiency in the automobile manufacturing and mobility space. The participation of global startups, this cohort onwards, marks a new milestone in this journey. It further supports our efforts to contribute meaningfully to ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ initiatives of the Government. We welcome the winning startups to join us in our mission to offer ‘Joy of Mobility’ to as many people as possible.”

Launched in January 2019, Maruti Suzuki India in the last six years, has screened over 5,000 startups, engaged with 150 startups and onboarded 25 startups partners.

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Shanghai-headquartered Inceptio Technology, a developer of autonomous truck technologies, has joined the Autoware Foundation, a global open alliance for autonomous driving tech.

As part of the understanding, Inceptio will collaborate with members of Autoware Foundation to advance innovation and accelerate the deployment of safe, scalable autonomous truck technologies.

Inceptio's technology portfolio covers L4, L3 and L2+ autonomous driving capabilities. It will leverage its proprietary full-stack Inceptio Autonomous Driving System - which features long-range perception, high-precision tractor and tailer control, fuel-efficient driving algorithm, as well as HPC specifically designed for truck's operating condition. This it shared improves safety, fuel efficiency and operational cost. Using data-driven R&D platform continuously refines core modules in real time, enabling rapid deployment and optimisation of autonomous truck technologies across diverse use cases in trucking.

Launched in 2018, the Autoware Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting open-source collaboration that accelerates the development of autonomous driving technology globally. It counts the likes of Tomtom, Robosense, NXP, Huawei, Hitachi, Capegemini, Foxconn, AMD and Amazon Web Services amongst its members.

Inceptio, on its part, was amongst the first to have launched the industry's first series production autonomous trucks in late 2021. Till date, Inceptio Autonomous Driving System is claimed to have has achieved over 200 million kilometres of commercial operations.

Shinpei Kato, Founder and Fellow, Autoware Foundation said, "We are excited to welcome Inceptio Technology to the Autoware Foundation. Inceptio's proven track record in autonomous trucking and deep industry and production expertise will be invaluable as we work together to build the next generation of autonomous mobility solutions for the trucking industry."

Inceptio will actively participate in the Autoware Foundation initiatives by contributing technology and use cases, exploring new applications, and forging global partnerships.

Julian Ma, Founder & CEO, Inception Technology, added, "We look forward to collaborating with a global open-source community of innovators to accelerate the development of autonomous driving technologies and extend the community's reach deep into truck segment. Our extensive experience in series production and insight from world's largest commercial deployment of autonomous truck uniquely position us to contribute to the Autoware Foundation, driving safer and more efficient logistics worldwide."

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Tata Elxsi, a global leader in design and technology services has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Infineon Technologies, a leading semiconductor solutions company, to jointly develop application-ready electric vehicle solutions tailored to the Indian market.

The partners will collaborate on design and integration expertise to drive faster adoption of automotive-grade, cost-efficient and safety-compliant subsystems across key mobility segments. This collaboration, the partners stated, aligns with India’s rapid shift towards electrification, with EV sales growing by 25–30 percent year-on-year in 2024, including a 28 percent increase in electric two- and three-wheeler sales.

As part of the understanding, Tata Elxsi will bring its design, system integration and validation capabilities, while Infineon will provide early access to its latest semiconductor technologies – such as silicon carbide (SiC)-based components, microcontrollers and integrated circuits (ICs).

The partners will work closely to develop high-voltage inverters for traction and auxiliary systems, scalable battery management systems (BMS), bi-directional onboard chargers and high-voltage thermal management solutions for the Indian market targeting two-wheeler, three-wheeler, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicle segments. In future, they also look to support eVTOL, energy and off-highway sectors.

Nambi Ganesh, Head – Automotive, Tata Elxsi, said, “Currently, several of our EV solutions are already built on Infineon SoCs and components. This MoU further strengthens our partnership by giving us a clearer scope and tighter system-level alignment, enabling shorter turnaround times to address Indian market requirements. As EV adoption scales, our focus remains on delivering production-ready, automotive standards-compliant platforms and solutions.”

Kenneth Lim, Senior Vice-President – Automotive, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, said, “At Infineon, we are committed to driving innovation in the electric vehicle sector and empowering our partners to bring cutting-edge technologies to market. This partnership with Tata Elxsi is a significant step in our journey to support India’s ambitious electrification goals. By combining Tata Elxsi's design and integration expertise with our advanced semiconductor solutions, we are not only enhancing the development of ready-to-deploy EV systems but also ensuring that they meet the highest safety and performance standards. Together, we aim to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility across various segments, from two-wheelers to commercial vehicles, and contribute to a more sustainable future for India.”

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