Industry News
eCall launch likely to be further delayed -ACEA
12th May 2008
It is unlikely that the planned eCall EU automated emergency call system will be launched in time to meet the European Commission's 2010 target, according to Wolfgang Reinhardt, head of regulatory affairs at the European car manufacturers association (ACEA). He told Automotive News Europe (12 May), "It will take years to put a European system in place, 2012 or even longer."
The European Commission's eCall project would require manufacturers to install an emergency-call black box in all new cars by 2010, already a year later than originally planned. The reported reasons for the delay include the reluctance of many EU member states to upgrade their communications systems to receive the emergency calls, and the lack of a common telecommunications standard.
The German semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies signed an MOU with the European Commission to develop eCall technology in April this year, when the eCall system was expected to become a standard feature on all new cars registered in EU countries from September 2010.
According to Strategy Analytics, the US-based market research organisation, around five million eCall systems will be shipped worldwide this year, and in six years’ time this figure will have increased almost eightfold – the equivalent of an annual growth rate of 35.7%.
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