Nearly two years ago, prompted by virtually concurrent seminars on safety and the environment run by DaimlerChrysler and Volvo (Transport Engineer September 2002), we wondered whether the focus of attention at the engineering departments of top vehicle manufacturers would shift away from these two hot topics in a year or two. Well now we know. It hasn't. Again this year at about the same time, both DaimlerChrysler and Volvo staged seminars on the two subject areas that remain firmly at the top of their engineering priority lists. Much of what we reported in 2002 applies just as much now as it did then. What follows is an update of the areas in which most technical progress seems to have been made. As DaimlerChrysler's commercial vehicle boss Eckhard Cordes said back in 2002: "Technology and innovation are not ends in themselves in a cost-sensitive sector such as the commercial vehicles business. In plain terms, for the operator forced to calculate costs in cents per kilometre, additional investment in safety systems must pay off."
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