The_Assessor_Spring 2026 web - Flipbook - Page 22
JOURNAL
ENGINEERING
STANDARDISATION
- KILLING CREATIVITY?
By Andrew Marsh, Technical Director of AutoBody Bible, FIMI, Hon member of IAEA.
n a land far away
(Sweden) was a
manufacturer who
did things differently.
One of the projects
was elimination of the steering wheel,
replaced by a joy stick in the centre
of the dash, so avoiding matters
of steering wheel airbags, steering
column intrusion and so on. The same
company many years later introduced
a secondary diagonal belt which could,
when deployed, release access to more
engine performance.
I
The company was Saab. These were
some of the innovations they sought
to put into production, but neither the
insurers or type approval authorities
were convinced. After rejection by USA
and European authorities, they tried
to get the systems into production via
friendly Scandinavian authorities and
insurers, but one by one they declined.
22
The automotive business has
traditionally moved at quite a slow
pace, because products are some of
the largest and most expensive most
people buy apart from a house. In
addition, it is expected to last for at
least 10 years with the yield of cash if
sold before then.
The vehicle design is the primary
means to differentiate, and that
leads to a rich seam of manufacturer
model speci昀椀c parts – the doors, the
interior trim, the exterior trim and
body panels. For some items such as
control modules, they will frequently
have a generic form – Robert Bosch
for example, make a few ESC module
cores – but are adapted to make
them exactly, precisely unique for
the vehicle manufacturer. Of course,
the aftermarket supply industry has a
gaggle of parts manufacturers ranging
from the very Teir 1 suppliers to pattern
part manufacturers.
ENTER THE ELECTRIC DOOR
HANDLE
Closures – the bonnet, doors, tailgate
/ rear load doors – are some of the
most intensely engineered assemblies
on a vehicle. They are highly visible,
frequently used and have to preform
additional tasks such as part of
pedestrian safety (bonnet) or anti
intrusion (door side impact beams).
During the voluntary Euro NCAP
impact test suite or the type approval
test suite the doors must not unlatch,
but after impact they have to open
without being jammed into the body
structure.
Mechanical 昀氀ush door handles have
been around for decades, but Tesla
with the Model S in 2012 made pop
out electric door handles, assisted
opening and closing, standard. Over
many years and with many, many
revisions including out sourcing the
THE ASSESSORS JOURNAL | SPRING 2026 | www.iaea-online.org/news/the-assessor
