TRW expands value line product for China domestic market

Shanghai, China - 30 April, 2009 – TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TRW) announced yesterday the development of value line braking, electronics and seatbelt products for the Chinese domestic market. The range includes cost optimized ABS and electronic stability control systems; a cost optimized caliper; a seatbelt retractor; and a scaleable airbag control unit product.

XY Sun, vice president for business development at TRW Asia Pacific said: “TRW is working closely with China’s domestic and international car makers in order to design and tailor technologies to improve road safety. The ideal solution is scaleable products such as ABS, Electronic Stability Control and our airbag control unit, which provide flexibility and range to meet both established and emerging markets’ performance needs. Developing cost optimized products also allows us to support vehicle manufacturer’s targets of smaller and lower cost vehicles for their home and export growth aspirations.”

TRW is also offering cost optimized electronic braking systems that meet the safety standards of established markets and are suitable for applications from small passenger cars to full size sedans – offering a range of performance functions at lower cost. Customers can choose from base ABS through to full ESC system functionality including all required sensors with communication via CAN, and can integrate the yaw and lateral acceleration sensors within the main unit.

TRW’s cost optimized caliper is a derivative of its well established Colette design, which has proven itself as market leading. This design offers basic functionality with the best cost and quality, and allows the product to be adapted to the customer’s performance requirements. The design concept is fully compatible with advanced systems including electronic stability control.

Rashid Salahutdin, director of braking for TRW in Asia Pacific added: “All of our braking products are manufactured locally at TRW facilities in China. This strong manufacturing base allows the company to minimize costs through working with local suppliers while satisfying our Chinese customers with world class quality and delivery.”

TRW’s electronics engineers have developed a scaleable airbag control unit (ACU) designed for the growing lower-cost vehicle markets. The intelligent solution allows the ACU to be adapted within a platform to offer two options – standard and enhanced – for models sold within emerging territories and for those exported to developed markets.

Calvin Xing, chief engineer electronics for TRW China said: “This scaleable ACU allows cost domestic manufacturers to equip their vehicles with safety electronics while maintaining their competitiveness, and offers emerging safety electronics markets the opportunity to fit their vehicles with advanced safety equipment. This flexibility is essential for OEMs looking for a single solution to satisfy both the emerging and export markets.”

Finally, based on TRW’s global retractor platform ESA 4.0 and meeting both Chinese and European Commission legislative requirements, a seatbelt product has been optimized for the China market.

These products will be ready for production from the end of this year through to the middle of 2010.