Tech Drives Auto

Although this isn’t going to mark a complete turnaround in the automotive engineering economy in the U.S. Midwest, Hella KGaA Hueck & Co., the international developer and manufacturer of lighting and electronics components and systems, has just announced that it is hiring engineers and other professionals for its facilities in Plymouth, Michigan (yes, home of autofieldblog), and Flora, Illinois.

For a start, they’re going to be filling 20 positions through the third quarter of 2010, and Dr. Martin Fischer, president of Hella Electronics and the Hella Corporate Center USA, suggests that there will be additional hiring through the remainder of the year.

According to Fischer, the company expects to grow its electronics business in the NAFTA region by 20% or more annually. Factors he cites for the anticipated growth:

• An overall increase in vehicle sales
• Consumer interest in more fuel-efficient cars
• Demand for radar-based driver assistance systems

Speaking of the last point—especially products based on 24-GHz radar, which can be used for adaptive cruise control, lane-change assistance, and blind-spot and cross-traffic monitoring—Fisher says, “Radar operates in all weather conditions and automakers are receiving positive response for these systems from consumers.”

So maybe tech will help drive auto to 14-million sales and beyond.