CATIA-Designed Vehicles Continue to Take Over the Road

Virtually 80% of World Debuts at 2010 Detroit Auto Show Designed in Dassault Systèmes Flagship Software

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., January 12, 2010  Dassault Systèmes (DS) (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that CATIA, the company’s solution for virtual design, was used in the development of nearly 80 percent of the production and concept vehicles making their world debut at the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) taking place at Cobo Hall in Detroit, January 11-24. Additionally, CATIA was utilized in the design of the 2010 North American Car of the Year – the Ford Fusion Hybrid -- and Truck of the Year -- the Ford Transit Connect -- as well as many of the EcoExperience cars, which all run on some combination of electric or hybrid powertrain technology.

”CATIA plays a strategic role in helping automotive companies retain a competitive edge,” said Dassault Systèmes VP of Design Experience, Anne Asensio, who is serving as a chief design judge at the EyesOn Design competition at the show. “Our goal is to provide an enabler for designers to seamlessly carry their visions into reality, empowering them via Dassault Systèmes technology.” 

CATIA and its knowledgeware capability have long offered freedom for innovation and significant time savings in bringing relevant vehicles quickly to market with increased quality. Says Asensio, “Now, with our new generation of V6 design solutions, we move beyond 3D mockup and Product Lifecycle Management into the creation of intelligent virtual products that allow form, behavior and interactions to be tested in life-like situations inclusive of consumer emotion and preferences. This will enable the industry to make critical decisions earlier in the vehicle development process, helping to deliver cars that people truly desire.”

In addition to bringing the consumer closer to the product development process, the Dassault Systèmes V6 platform can aid automakers in meeting mandated emissions standards. Increasingly complex advanced and alternative powertrain technologies, as evidenced by the EcoExperience vehicles at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, will continue to be a necessary trend. The CATIA V6 platform, which links all engineering domains (mechanical, electrical, software) into a common and dynamic engineering template to optimize the design process, allows all vehicle systems to be tested and validated together versus being tested in silos, as typically occurs today. 

Adding to the growing use of CATIA in the automotive industry is the fact that its embedded knowledgeware is very easy for non-computer programmers to learn and use. This allows designers and engineers to create the templates rather than requiring programmers to compile code in external applications.