The Schaeffler Group uses modern coating technology in order to optimize the functionality of surfaces in heavily loaded rolling bearings and precision components. In focus are coatings that prevent or reduce corrosion and fretting corrosion, as well as wear, friction, slippage and the passage of current. Offered under the trademarks of Corrotect®, Durotect®, Triondur® and Isotect®, the coatings are applied to the component surfaces in a number of different methods, without a thermo-chemical diffusion occurring between the coating and the base material.

The Schaeffler Group is preparing the expansion of its manufacturing capacity in North America for its multiple award-winning UniAir product, which is the world’s first continuously variable hydraulic valve train system. The UniAir valve train actuator, invented by Fiat Powertrain Technologies and developed and produced under licence by the Schaeffler Group, is a key component of the Fiat Powertrain Technologies MultiAir* system, which made its debut in the middle of 2009 with introduction of the Alfa MiTo 1.4 MultiAir.

Record breaker Rainer Zietlow has set out on another great journey. With his “EcoFuel Transamerica Tour” through South and North America, he is continuing his circumnavigation of the globe in a natural-gas-powered Volkswagen Caddy. This stage is a very special pan-American trip.

It has now been three decades since a pack of sporty Volkswagen Iltis all-terrain vehicles raced on their way to victory during the 1980 Dakar Rally, at the time still a new event. The Iltis (German for the European polecat) had become well-known in Germany because of its use in the German military, and Volkswagen and Audi engineers took advantage of the all-terrain vehicle’s rally start to develop what is today its legendary Quattro drive. And this victorious rally operation also marks a highly successful time for engineers of the Schaeffler Group. The 1980 Dakar Rally is generally regarded as the beginning of the throttle valve bearing, a machine component that the Schaeffler Group has produced millions of and holds several patents for.

A new version of the Schaeffler Group’s product selection and information system, medias® 5.0, has gone online. The revised system is much faster, more secure and easier to use. This is, for example, thanks to the program interface, which now offers a variety of language options under the aspect of process orientation.