Europe trailing on ESP safety

NOT ENOUGH new cars in Europe are being specified with an electronic stability programme (ESP) that is proved to be most important safety system in prevent collisions.

Research by Frost and Sullivan has found Europe is lagging behind North America, where there is almost 100% success with fitting news cars with ESP. Despite ESP being included in the European New Car Assessment Programme since 2011, the study shows there has been only a minimal increase in the number of cars sold that have ESP.

Industry analyst Arunprasad Nandakumar said: ‘Across Europe, different car makers have established varied strategies for marketing ESP for their portfolios. While the optional fitment costs the consumer anywhere between 300 to 1200 Euros, the average optional fitment rate is approximately 540 Euros across Europe. If the technology does become mandatory in 2014, it will pose a challenge to volume manufacturers. They will either have to bear the cost of the technology or pass it on to the end consumer.’

On top of that, countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, and Germany, offer ESP fitment as standard in most models, while countries like Greece, Malta, and Iceland fail to offer the technology even as optional in most of the available models.

Dealers operating in more than one European country often fail to provide the technology equivalently. It is therefore not just the responsibility of a dealer to ensure favourable uptake of optional fitment, car makers need to ensure availability across vehicle model line-up.

By Press Association reporters