Further complexity ahead for steering suppliers as autonomy branches out

Worldwide, ZF has produced over 50 million electric power steering (EPS) systems to date. Of these, the most common type is the company’s Column Drive (CD) technology, which accounts for 30 million of this total. But only recently has the supplier begun producing CD systems for the US market. In August 2017, the company revealed its systems were being fitted in the new 2017 Jeep Compass, which itself is produced at FCA facilities in Mexico, Brazil, China and Poland.

So, why the wait? Thilo Bitzer, Senior Vice President Engineering Steering Systems at ZF, points to