DRIVERS'' AWARENESS OF ESP® ON THE INCREASE
01 December 2006 - Bosch

EUROPE-WIDE VEHICLE SAFETY SURVEY

·Every second driver in Europe has heard of ESP®

·Significant differences from country to country

·German drivers best informed about active safety systems

When they purchase a car, drivers place even greater importance on
safety than they do on fuel consumption or price. This is shown by a
recent survey commissioned by Bosch in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the
UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Above all, the awareness of ''active
safety systems'' that help to prevent accidents is increasing
significantly. For example, every second driver in Europe has now heard
of the Electronic Stability Program ESP®. This figure is significantly
higher than in 2004, when only 39 percent had heard of ESP®. However,
most of the 3,000 people surveyed still associate the topic of safety in
the car mainly with ''passive safety systems''. These are systems designed
to reduce the severity of accidents.

When asked to spontaneously name safety systems in the car, respondents
in most of the countries surveyed came up first and foremost with airbags
and safety belts. Active safety systems, such as the antilock blocking
system ABS and the Electronic Stability Program ESP® are still named far
less frequently. But when the respondents are specifically asked about
these systems, the survey shows that 92 percent are familiar with ABS,
and 54 percent with ESP®. Moreover, roughly one third of all those who
had heard of ESP® were able to explain its function and benefits
correctly. One of the main reasons for this result is the widespread
awareness of these systems among German drivers, while awareness in other
European countries is still far less pronounced. Commenting on this,
Herbert Hemming, President of the Bosch Chassis Systems Control division,
states: ''In western Europe, ABS has been standard equipment in all new
vehicles up to 3.5 metric tons since July 2004 - and is for this reason
very well known. A similar awareness of ESP® would be desirable.'' In sub-
compact cars in particular, ESP® is still only an option at present, or
may not even be a feature at all. ''But drivers have to know the benefit
of an option if they are to actively choose it when buying a car,''
Hemming said. To bridge this gap, Bosch launched the ''ESP®erience''
salesperson training program, as 62 percent of respondents cited the car
salesperson as the most important source of advice when buying a car.

In order to further reduce the number of deaths on Europe''s roads, the
European Commission also intends to enhance awareness of the benefits of
ESP®. With its ''eSafety Aware!'' communication platform, launched in
September 2006, it is pursuing the aim of drawing increased public
attention to the benefits of modern safety technologies in the car. The
topic of the first communication campaign in the first half of 2007 will
be ESP®. Next to awareness, availability is the second important aspect
for making the system as widespread as possible. This is why bodies such
as GDV, the central federation of the German insurance industry, Thatcham,
the British motor insurance repair research center, and Folksam, the
Swedish insurance company, call for all new vehicles to be fitted with
ESP® as standard equipment. The United States has already gone a step
further. The National Highway Traffic Safety Authority (NHTSA) plans to
phase in ESP® as a mandatory feature of all new cars from 2008 on.

The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and
industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal
2005, some 251,000 associates generated sales of 41.5 billion euros. Set
up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as ''Workshop for
Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,'' the Bosch Group today
comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of more
than 280 subsidiaries and more than 12,000 Bosch service centers in over
140 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its
financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible
for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the
safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social
responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its
founder. A total of 92 % of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is
held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The
entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch
Industrietreuhand KG.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.

www.boschautoparts.co.uk

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