Kongsberg, Norway -- Kongsberg Automotive (KA) has gained a contract worth about Euro 45 million ($63 million) for rear head-restraints for a minivan programme in North America. The volume planned for this programme is 1 million headrests a year, with five of the head restraints on each vehicle.
The figure of Euro 45 million is the lifetime value of the contract, with the production planned to start in 2010, said a 13 July Kongsberg statement.
The trimmed headrest has a folding mechanism designed and developed by KA Engineering. Currently the company aims to use a polyurethane foam bun under the trim cover, Joseph Laperriere, KA's engineering director told Urethanes Technology International in an email.
Using this design, Kongsberg said, the customer can not only provide high safety capabilities for rear occupants, which also meet increased legal regulations, but still meet consumer demands for rear seat functionality.
Another benefit of the design is that it also gives the driver increased rear/side vision when folded, to help prevent blind spots.
Kongsberg said the programme proves that it can "supply the whole system for full headrest assemblies anywhere in the world while meeting challenging performance and safety requirements."
"With North American vehicle sales slumping, it is great to win a high volume programme like this to secure our market position," commented Hans Peter Havdal, president for Automotive Systems at KA. "It is important to be able to show Kongsberg's new innovations and ability to provide a robust and clever folding headrest assembly to our customers."
Kongsberg Automotive, headquartered in Kongsberg, Norway, has about 50 facilities in 20 countries globally, and employs over 8000 people.
It provides systems to vehicle makers around the world. As well as head restrains and arm rests, it offers gearshift systems, cables, fuel lines, tubing and hoses, couplings, clutch actuation, seat heaters, seat ventilation, lumbar supports, steering columns and pedals.
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