Rheinmetall Group’s automotive subsidiary KSPG AG has been awarded contracts worth EUR 250M for a newly developed compact exhaust-gas recirculation valve. Ordered by European and North American automakers, the valve will be installed in engines designed to comply with the strict Euro 6 emission norm. The valves will be installed in 2014 and 2015 when certain new engines go into production at the European and US plants of further manufacturers. With its comparatively compact footprint, the valve takes into account the continuous shrinkage of engine space on present car ranges.
In answer to the rising cost of fuel and tightening regulations regarding CO2 emissions, KSPG AG has been specialising in exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) modules. Since the start of the 1980s, the valves have chiefly been employed for the reduction of diesel engine emissions, nowadays they are increasingly being fitted to gasoline engines given the incremental fuel-saving potential. KSPG’s annual production volume of EGR valves and modules is as high as 6M units. Rheinmetall Automotive not only produces the valves at the German plants but also in the Czech Republic, Spain, USA, India, and China.