Freescale and automaker Beigi Foton form joint lab

PORTLAND: At the new Foton/Freescale Automotive Joint Lab in Beijing, engineers from Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Ltd. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. will join hands to integrate Freescale microcontrollers and sensors into automotive control systems for the powertrain, chassis. This development is to address the safety and "green" aspirations of Chinese automakers.

The Foton-Freescale Automotive Joint Lab is committed to co-developing silicon, software and system-level solutions for use in the next generation of Foton vehicles, said a press release. The two companies have agreed to explore joint-development efforts in key application areas, including electric vehicle/hybrid electric vehicle (EV/HEV) technology and relevant electronic control technology.

Future collaboration will focus on powertrain, chassis and safety technologies. The planned technology collaboration is expected to involve a wide range of Freescale microcontroller (MCU) platforms, including Freescale’s 32-bit Power Architectureâ„¢ MCUs, 16-bit S12X and 8-bit S08 devices, as well as analog power management ICs and sensors.

Beiqi Foton Motor Co, which claims to be the biggest commercial vehicle maker in China, has made 600,000 commercial vehicles in 2009. This makes it the fourth largest automotive maker in the world. Freescale has already adopted this kind of joint venture work with automotive power-houses in the U.S. and Europe–from Delphi to Robert Bosch. In this new association the companies will be jointly developing microcontroller and sensor technologies that meet the unique needs of Foton's target market–namely Chinese vehicles.

"Foton Motor has been committed to promoting the energy and environmental technology in the automotive industry, and has proved continuous breakthroughs in new energy-driven vehicles over the past years. The opening of the joint lab will provide wings for Foton Motor products to fly into a promising future," said Wu Xuebin, Foton Motor vice president and Director of the Engineering Research Institute at the ceremony.

He said the cooperation with Freescale will further improve the product competitiveness of Foton Motor, and will help Foton develop a sustainable competitive edge in the future.