Global viewpoints: Europe embraces the AT-factor

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Jaguar has hands full with new product launches

Dick Elsy is Jaguar's Engineering Director. He believes CAD and CAE are part of a "science that is accelerating almost exponentially."

When Jaguar Engineering Director Dick Elsy meets with senior members of the company to discuss future products, there is one particular issue that is always addressed: making life easier for Jaguar drivers. "Some of the demands made on automotive designers and engineers today involving the environment, safety, and the effects of higher traffic density result in ever more complex systems on cars," Elsy said. "But I believe there is a competitive advantage to be gained from having a driver interface with onboard systems that is very simple and easy to use. The challenge is deciding how to do it. For example, if it is menu-driven via a single control, it can take a long time to reach the specific option required. Yet the priority should always be to keep the driver focused on the road and not distracted by performing actions that are supposed to be a support but may actually be an intrusion into concentration and driving efficiency. There is no doubt that cars and their systems will become more complex and that overall demands on the driver will increase. It is a conflict that we are working to resolve."

Elsy agrees with the generally held belief that this increasing complexity and ways to control it will not add significantly to costs. The cost of developing entirely novel systems is usually significant, made even higher by today's safety and environmental requirements, he said, "but as production volumes of a new technology rise, so costs invariably reduce. That has always been the case, and I see no reason for it to change. Some people take a profit vacation to establish new technologies that will give a halo effect to their entire range and which they believe to be a route to required economies of scale."

It is important for Jaguar to be seen as a technology leader, Elsy said. The S-Type Jaguar (now becoming established as Jaguar's most successful global platform) offers active voice control for some functions as an option, which also will be offered on the new X-Type, plus a touch-screen facility for navigation and other systems operation. The XK sports car range has radar-based adaptive cruise control.

"As a small company, we needed to be bold to introduce technology of that level," said Elsy. "But our main competitors have high-technology products, so we must be up with, or ahead of, them. We also need to ensure that such systems have the hallmarks of engineers who not only understand the technology but also the application of it in a thoroughly effective manner—in our case to powerful sports cars."

Of the strategic technologies needed to create a car, electronics is the most important in Elsy's view. He identifies dynamics as the key engineering discipline. Now, he said, the two can work together: "We can use technology as a strong differentiator in terms of the dynamic feel of the car. Electronics-based systems, such as our CATS (computed active technology suspension), can support that and help toward sustaining or enhancing the distinctive Jaguar character that is essential for us."

Overall cost pressures are tough for Jaguar at present. The company is moving from three model lines (XJ, S-Type, XK) to five (X-Type this year, F-Type by 2004) with a steep rise in unit output: from 50,000 three years ago to almost 200,000 by 2004. "So we are spending a disproportionate amount of our sales revenue on engineering," Elsy said. "Ford does not bankroll us, although we can use some of its engineering facilities, such as climatic chambers and noise labs. In terms of engineering, we keep very brand-specific and are expected to pay our own way. With such expansion in progress, it is plainly difficult to achieve required bottom-line results—but we must."

The Jaguar X-Type's all-wheel-drive powertrain.

Jaguar is what Elsy calls a "gasoline-based company," but it is "actively considering" diesel engines for its sedans. As for LPG and CNG, "we keep an open mind," he said. "We are not involved in fuel-cell technology. I cannot afford to invest in any technology for which no infrastructure exists at present to support it. However, if taxation shifted dramatically in favor of alternative fuels, then we would have to respond accordingly. We do, however, have the support of the Research Group at Ford (Dearborn and Aachen), which are active in developing these technologies for the benefit of all brands under the Ford trustmark."

With regard to safety, Jaguar has "probably reached a plateau in terms of the number of pyrotechnic devices we will put into a car," Elsy said. "Now the direction is likely to be toward preemptive collision devices to detect an imminent collision and support the driver in avoiding it or coping with the consequences. Our adaptive cruise control using millimeter-wave radar can already 'see' the vehicle ahead, so you don't have to be Isaac Asimov to think of further applications for it." Elsy also regards pedestrian safety legis- lation as becoming increasingly important and believes meeting likely requirements without compromising the aesthetics of its sports cars "might be challenging."

Elsy refuses to confirm or deny that Jaguar is planning to make very extensive use of aluminum for the MY 2003 XJ8 sedan replacement. But he sends a subtle message about the plus and minus aspects of using the material for production. "The main attraction for us is to give the customer the performance expected from a Jaguar together with a competitive level of fuel economy," said Elsy. "As there are no magic formulae to attain this combination, weight remains a critical success factor. However, aluminum is a difficult material with which to work. For the past hundred years, the automotive industry has been developing the infrastructure of steel, and modern technology has brought us such things as gauge optimization and laser-welded blanks. Steel crashes well, is stiff, and now weighs a sensible amount. Although aluminum also 'crashes well,' the automotive world is still learning about the material. I sometimes think that if the automotive industry worked in an all-aluminum environment to create products, we might now be looking at steel as a very attractive alternative."

CAD and CAE are totally established as motor industry tools, but Elsy believes there is enormous potential for further advance. "This is a science that is accelerating almost exponentially," he said. "We have full 3-D modeling for everything we do, and we can achieve material runs and checks on whether parts will fit or clash. We manage competition for packaging space; we can check the efficacy of manufacturing access points and power tools, and so on and so on.

"The big breakthrough has been in CAE. The minimum payback is that first prototypes will be built to a much higher standard than they were even a very few years ago because all the 'bits' fit so you can get on with actively refining the vehicle rather than refining a design that does not fit or work properly." Elsy believes that a direct move from screen to full production is now feasible—although it will not happen.

Jaguar's XKR Coupe.

"We will always have to physically prove a new design," he explained. "But the next big step is to use CAE's capability to check parts fit and to simulate crash tests, acoustic and vibration performance, torsional stiffness, handling, and dynamic characteristics. We can give all that a tick-in-the-box and use the data to move straight into production tooling. Then, instead of testing prototype cars, we would be testing fully production-tooled vehicles. That would be a major step forward. However, we would still need to undertake full test validation. There will always be a need for this because the stakes are so high that getting it wrong at that stage would be unthinkable; the new product has to be physically driven. Our judgment is that with the best CAE tools, we would expect to get 90% or even 95% of the distance to a production-ready premium-class vehicle. A commodity vehicle might get even further. But at our level, the difference between us and the competition can be quite subtle, and there is scope for some of the 'magic dust' that really good development specialists can sprinkle on a new design."

E-commerce and the Internet form another element of Jaguar's electronic world. "We use e-commerce to connect with suppliers for purchasing and believe there are greater opportunities for its involvement in the whole supply chain," said Elsy. "But it is not just about having links with our Tier 1 suppliers; there needs to be connection through second, third, and fourth tiers, although a difficulty is that some of the small businesses may not have the finances for expensive links into the chain. The Internet offers opportunities to link the consumer with the business and to provide a personal service."

Jaguar has a long motor racing history, mainly in sports cars and sedans, but more recently it has ventured—with a notable lack of success to date—into Formula One. Elsy is cautious about the benefits racing brings to the engineering of production cars. "There is some spin-off," he said. "Many of my engineers who have experience with Jaguar Racing learn about rapid techniques and processes—how to do things quickly. In fact, their experience and production technology may actually be to the considerable benefit of Jaguar Racing with the input of expertise in such areas as gas flow analysis. For us it is a two-way street."

Government regulation is a constant concern and challenge to the automotive industry. Elsy sees no let-up in this area, but underlines the advances made in emissions control. It is an improvement that is sometimes not easily visualized, so he gives this analogy: "If you compare the emissions levels of a European car in the early 1980s with one of today's, then overlay that level of improvement on braking performance to get a statistical comparison, it would mean the difference between stopping in 100 m (33 ft) and 20 cm (8 in)." Because the industry has responded so well to environmental issues, he believes the regulatory pressure to go on improving will continue. "We will all be better off as a result, but those who achieve an aggressive new limit often face crippling initial costs," Elsy noted.

Premium motor manufacturers like Jaguar face many challenges in the future, but Elsy singles out one in particular for special concern. "It is the threat of punitive governmental legislative interference in such things as taxation levels that may affect the choice by customers of the product they really want," he explained. "It would be a sad world if we all ended up in standardized boxes on wheels. Avoiding that is really down to us as engineers and designers."

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