23/01/2023 | Press release

The tech enterprise Rheinmetall’s Sensors and Actuators division has won another request for tenders from a well-known, globally operating premium German automaker, overcoming rival international Tier 1 suppliers. Already booked in December 2022, the total lifetime value of the order is in the upper double-digit million-euro range.

Production of over half a million air modules is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 and will continue for the next six years. The modules are destined for two of the premium carmaker’s model ranges. Furthermore, the order encompasses development work for customer-specific modifications.

Adding to its business as a supplier of individual components, thanks to the air modules Rheinmetall is positioning itself as a system supplier of future Euro 7 systems. The customer is the first company worldwide with a microprocessor-controlled air supply for an internal combustion engine. This new order underscores Rheinmetall’s commitment to widening its global market lead in emissions reduction. Further orders from other manufacturers are now expected.

The air modules ordered here are needed for supporting thermal management of an exhaust gas after-treatment system. Because emission laws are getting tougher all the time, these systems must operate more efficiently and in a more stable way. This is also true in combination with hybrid drive systems, which, when they switch to full electric mode, are unable to supply heat for the exhaust after-treatment system. Keeping pollution to an absolute minimum at all times poses increasingly complex requirements on the after-treatment subcomponents as well as requiring new combinations of functionalities. In the current contract, Group subsidiary Pierburg has drawn on long decades of experience in the world of engine, air, and thermal management components to develop an air module that perfectly meets the automaker’s exacting requirements.

In the process, Rheinmetall has underscored its capacity and willingness to support not only alternative drive technologies, but also to optimize internal combustion engines to meet the latest pollution control and CO2 emission standards. This new air module will help to assure adherence to forthcoming Euro 7 emission limits, once again demonstrating Pierburg’s unsurpassed ability to respond swiftly and flexibly to the complex requirements of the global automotive industry.