Hi Rainier,
I have never attended the Conference you have noted. However, because I believe that the timing of the recent lawsuit against Autoliv was particularly relevant from a marketing and business standpoint, there is some chance that I will go "north of the border" simply to get another look at who is displaying the ITS technology.
It is my understanding that Delphi had an "exclusive" for the SAE Conference in Detroit (thus explaining why TRW and Breed did not have Simula product available for exploration), and that the relationship between Simula and Delphi will be fully explained to the market within the next week or so.
I have read through the lawsuit, and found a number of interesting tidbits. For starters, if Simula can factually support *half* of its allegations, Autoliv has clearly stepped over the line and is impeding introduction of a new technology with significant damage to the auto-riding public. With proof supporting the stated allegations, I have no doubt that Simula will win at trial. However, I digress:
1)It is alleged that Autoliv threatened other first tier suppliers interested in doing business with Simula with lawsuits if those companies signed contractual arrangements with our company. This "threat" was based on Autoliv's alleged commentary regarding its own view that it had an "exclusive" arrangement to distribute Simula's ITS technology worldwide, which Simula says in its complaint is "not true."
2) That threat of lawsuit and misinformation intentionally spread by Autoliv was allegedly intended to "bury" ITS technology in favor of its own "curtain" device. As most of your know, Volvo and Mercedes have announced "curtain" devices for their new automobiles, though technological development (and what I saw as representative in Detroit) suggest that there is a considerable distance for both companies to travel before they can outfit a car with this technology. These potential sales appear to be lost to Simula despite the fact that it has a functional and fully-tested product already, and Autoliv's own efforts to supply the two car companies with curtains are in a virtually moribund technological state. It was further noted in the lawsuit that BMW is sufficiently concerned with its own relationship with Autoliv (whether based on the ITS imbroglio or not) to have taken some of its airbag business away from Autoliv and placed it with another first-tier supplier.
3) What is clear from the lawsuit is that Mr. Townsend has been 100% honest with the market in indicating that Simula is talking to "everyone" about ITS and ITS related products. Delphi's own engineer comments to me...that virtually *all* of the market interest in side impact head protection was in ITS...comes despite the fact that Delphi is clearly *self-interested*, as it has four of its own curtains currently under development.
I can't speak for the rest of you, but I await the Simula/Delphi press release with anticipation.
Have a good day. |
