Lightweighting/Cost Reduction

Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co., Ltd. (Desay SV) announced, together with Texas Instruments (TI), the unveiling of a new generation of high-performance radar, Corner Radar CRD03P. Desay SV’s other new radar products included Cascaded Imaging Radar FRD02, Front Radar FRD03, and Corner Radar CRD03E.

Corner Radar CRD03P, a sensor that meets the requirements of L2+ intelligent driving, offers capabilities in capturing speed, horizontal and vertical azimuth angles, and distance through point cloud information. Also, it is able to output 512 point clouds and 64 targets at the same time, offering unmatched visibility with its 200-meter range and 160° wide FOV (field of view). This ensures all-weather, expansive detection capabilities essential for advanced intelligent driving. The CRD03P utilizes the TI AWR2944 solution and leverages Desay SV’s extensive advantages in R&D and smart manufacturing. It incorporates intelligent anti-interference technology, an interactive IMM control algorithm, and an adaptive cubature filter algorithm. The radar is particularly effective in identifying static objects on roads and solving various problems in complex scenarios.

In order to meet the demand for various configurations, another new corner radar, CRD03E, has been released. It combines features such as low cost, small size, and light weight. It achieves a 5-star rating from 2024 C-NCAP (China New Car Assessment Program).

Cascaded Imaging Radar FRD02 adopts dual-chip cascade technology, which allows for enhanced performance of the MCU even within the constraints of limited resources. Based on the spatial segmentation algorithm of goniometric measurement, it can achieve 1-degree resolution in both horizontal and vertical directions. Additionally, the FRD02 supports a high-precision output capable of generating 1024-point-cloud data.

Front Radar FRD03 offers a 300-meter detection range, a 120-degree FOV for broad spatial awareness, and a high-precision 512-point-cloud output. It can recognize targets and track complex movement trajectories with high-precision output, having the capabilities to complete advanced intelligent driving perception functions in complex scenarios such as urban NOA (Navigate on Autopilot).

(From a press release dated July 22, 2024)

On July 24, Porsche announced that in H1 2024, the sales revenue was decreased by 4.8% YoY i.e., EUR 19.46 billion from EUR 20.43 billion in H1 2023, and the automotive operating profit was down 20.5% to EUR 3.06 billion. Deliveries also dropped by 6.8% to 155,945 units in H1 2024 compared to 167,354 units in H1 2023. While sales grew in Europe and Germany, China showed a decline, and overseas markets remained stable.

Porsche is facing production issues due to a supply shortage of special aluminum alloys caused by flooding at Novelis’ Swiss site. This shortage affects lightweight body components across all models and will lead to production delays despite countermeasures.

In H1 2024, the return on sales was 15.7%, i.e., a decrease from the previous year's 18.9%, despite challenging conditions and new model launches impacted sales and inventory.

Based on Porsche press release and multiple sources

On July 18, NORMA Group won a major contract to equip a new platform for small to medium-electric passenger cars with lightweight tubes for the battery thermal management system. The vehicle platform encompasses several car models and targets to enable efficient city mobility. 

The contract is worth more than EUR 30 million. Starting in December 2026, NORMA Group will deliver around 1.4 million tubes to the customer per year. The tubes will be manufactured at its plant in Subotica, Serbia. It will invest in new ergonomic assembly lines and in modernizing existing thermoforming equipment.

The tubes are made of thermoplastic elastomer, a light and flexible material. With its material and design quality, a TP Flex tube significantly reduces the pressure drop of the fluid that flows through it. The tube is therefore well suited for use in the thermal management systems of electric vehicles where it is challenging to keep the pressure in the cooling circuit evenly high.

Based on NORMA Group press release