Wabco inks €202m auto air-suspensions deal

Brussels – Wabco Holdings Inc. has announced a $230-million (€202-million) deal to develop air-suspension technology for an unnamed European manufacturer of premium passenger cars.

Under the 10-year contract, Wabco will deliver “an innovative air supply module along with control software to operate a range of air suspension system configurations.”

These will be used on one of the car maker’s high-volume global platforms, said the supplier of braking control systems and other technologies for commercial vehicles.

Air suspension is now a standard feature on most of the manufacturer’s electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, according to Wabco’s 4 Feb announcement.

The contract will, therefore, “support a 30% increase in air suspension production volumes compared to the manufacturer’s preceding car platform.”

Air suspension systems can automatically adjust the vehicle to the optimum ride-height, independent of the vehicle’s load.

This, said Wabco, is particularly important for electric vehicles to protect the batteries by ensuring sufficient ground-clearance levels.

Premium car makers are “increasingly valuing air suspension as standard equipment,” Nick Rens, Wabco president, EMEA, said in the release.