Valeo's Smart Key: Keeping in Touch With Your Vehicle

PARIS, October 2, 2008 - Valeo, always at the forefront of the latest developments in vehicle access systems, will unveil its smart key at the Paris Motor Show.

The smart key provides a genuine interface between driver and car, allowing people to send information to their vehicle over a considerable distance (several hundred meters). The key's mini screen displays information such as whether the doors are locked and the alarm is activated, tire pressure and fuel tank level. The key can be used to preprogram the seat position or radio station, to pre-ventilate the cabin, and to exchange navigation destinations downloaded from a computer. Information can also be exchanged between keys.

Valeo's booth at the Motor Show will look back over the history of car keys and the evolution of vehicle access. Valeo's subsidiary Neiman(TM) was the first to offer mechanical steering column locks and locks. The 1970s saw the emergence of central locking, followed in the 1980s by the Plip(TM), an infrared emitter invented by Valeo. The next step forward, in early 2000, was a hands-free access system, which dispensed altogether with the need to fumble with keys. Today's new generation of smart keys offers people an easy, practical way to communicate with their cars.