Paris, France - May 27, 2008 - The Volkswagen Group has taken on the Virtual Performance Solution software suite developed by ESI Group
(ESIN FR0004110310) for the simulation of vehicle crash, safety and structural load cases. Virtual Performance Solution includes PAM-CRASH, PAM-SAFE products and FPM (Finite Point Method) technology for all vehicle crash and safety simulations, as well as the latest developments in implicit technology for linear and nonlinear structural load cases. The most recent software release - Virtual Performance Solution version 2008 - opens the way to a considerable acceleration in the development process. Impact scenarios and structural load cases as designed, as analysed, as built and as destroyed can now be simulated much more efficiently. This results from ESI Group's close cooperation with the Volkswagen Group, Europe's largest automobile manufacturer: both have jointly pioneered crash simulations successfully since 1986.
Dr. Ralph Sundermeier, Head of Functional Calculation and Methods at Volkswagen, is counting on considerable improvements in the development process thanks to VP: ''With this further development of the software suite, ESI Group has achieved a quantum leap in the field of simulations. By being able to utilise a unique mathematical model for both, crash and load testing, we're improving our development efficiency at several stages of a project. Given the ever-shortening development cycles in the automobile sector, this gives us a decisive competitive edge.''
Vincent Chaillou, President and COO of ESI Group, expresses his great pleasure with the car manufacturer's decision: ''Volkswagen has once again shown its trailblazing role in the simulation field by actively supporting the further development of ESI's software suite. It is our very close cooperation that has allowed us to make these great advances. Volkswagen's decision to introduce Virtual Performance Solution in their product development process is therefore also an expression of the strategic partnership that has been forged between our companies in the last two decades.''
ESI Group's software suite enables the realistic simulation of product behavior in varying environments. With Virtual Performance Solution version 2008, based on explicit and implicit technologies, the process of safety checking and behavior of structures under operating conditions can be comprehensively simulated in all phases of vehicle development. ESI Group's Virtual Performance Solution will help the Volkswagen Group enhance their development capacities and reach earlier the stage of physical prototype test procedures.
About ESI Group:
ESI Group is a world-leading supplier and pioneer of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes that take into account the physics of materials. ESI Group has developed an extensive suite of coherent, industry-oriented applications to realistically simulate a product's behavior during testing, to fine-tune manufacturing processes in accordance with desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment's impact on product performance. ESI Group's products represent a unique collaborative and open virtual engineering environment known as the Virtual Try-Out Space, enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous and collaborative manner while eliminating the need for physical prototypes during product development. The company employs over 700 high-level specialists worldwide covering more than 30 countries. ESI Group is listed in compartment C of Euronext Paris. For further information, visit www.esi-group.com.
About the Volkswagen Group:
The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. In 2007, the Group increased the number of vehicles delivered to customers to 6.189 million (2006: 5.734 million), corresponding to a 9.8 percent share of the world passenger car market. In Western Europe, the largest car market in the world, almost one in every five new cars (19.5 percent) comes from the Volkswagen Group. Group sales rose in 2007 to 108.9 billion euros (2006: 104.9 billion). Profit after tax in the 2007 financial year amounted to 4.12 billion euros (2006: 2.75 billion).
The Group operates 48 production plants in thirteen European countries and a further six countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. Around the world, more than 329,000 employees produce almost 25,400 vehicles or are involved in vehicle-related services each working day. The Volkswagen Group sells its vehicles in more than 150 countries. The Group is made up of eight brands from six European countries: Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, Škoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. For further information, please turn to www.volkswagenag.com
