The body-chassis connection

Decoupled development and electronic controls are changing the way chassis systems are integrated with the vehicle architecture.

It is a trend that first hit powertrain engineering, and it is steadily gaining favor in the chassis and suspension arena. Moving more and more of a new vehicle's core engineering ahead of the actual vehicle program's official kick-off offers many benefits to automakers and systems suppliers.

Whether it's called modularity, parallel engineering, or “decoupled development,” the process puts subsystem development on a separate path from that of the body architecture.