The State of São Paulo – Cars – 05/14/2016
Soon, some luxury car brands will start offering "factory" warranties for armored vehicles, provided the service is performed by accredited companies.
The news was released during Exposec, one of the leading security trade shows in Latin America, which ended on Thursday, May 12th, in São Paulo.
Currently, when a car receives armor plating, it typically loses its original warranty and is only covered by the company that installed the extra protection and the dealership responsible for the sale.
Engineer Alex Cirillo, from Autostar Blindados, states that this should change soon. He explains that currently each armoring company has its own working method, and therefore the results of the service are not always the same.
Depending on how the intervention was carried out, the vehicle may present vulnerable points and even compromise the safety of the occupants in the event of an accident: "If the B-pillar (central) armor is not well done, it may prevent the curtain airbag from opening correctly and protecting the occupants' heads in the event of a collision," he exemplifies.
The engineer stated that a German company is expected to announce "in June or July" the officially guaranteed armor plating, and that some competitors in the luxury market are expected to follow suit.
Cirillo explained that the idea is to create a standardization of the armoring process, so that – despite all the transformation that such a service involves – the vehicle retains its original characteristics.
According to him, the service performed by Autostar includes steel reinforcements at vulnerable points, such as the junction of doors with the body, and at the corners of the windows: "Because of costs, this is not normally done.".
In addition to Autostar, Cirillo reports that Blindarte has also been selected to perform the service for the luxury brand.
At Exposec, an event geared towards industry professionals, the armor plating company displayed a BMW X3 riddled with dozens of bullet holes, many of which were fired to demonstrate the protection in critical areas. None of the bullets penetrated the armor.
Brazilian regulations stipulate that level 3A armor (the level permitted by the Army for passenger cars) must withstand shots from small arms fire, such as 12-gauge shotguns and 9mm pistols.
Although he did not cite specific figures, the engineer states that this armor should be between 10% and 15% more expensive than conventional armor, a result of the greater use of steel in critical areas. Cirillo reports that the weight of this armor is also slightly greater than the standard. In the car on display, he estimates an increase of 270 kilograms, compared to approximately 240 kg for conventional armor.
According to him, to compensate for the extra weight, the suspension springs were replaced so as not to alter the vehicle's original height relative to the ground.
Although he did not reveal the name of the brand that will launch the service in the country, the engineer states that, to approve the work, the automaker required that, in addition to being subjected to gunfire, the armored car also undergo road tests and window opening and closing tests: "The windows opened and closed 11,000 times," he assures.
Third wave. The engineer believes that the armoring segment is entering its "third wave," with factory warranties: "Eighteen years ago, the customer bought the car and took it to be armored himself. In the second wave, which is the current one, he buys the car at the dealership and the dealership itself directs the vehicle to be armored," he says.
After the "third wave," with automakers accrediting companies for the service, he predicts that in the future, cars could be armored right on the production line, during the assembly process.
Mercedes-Benz. At the beginning of last year, Mercedes-Benz launched the E 250 Turbo Avantgarde VR4 in Brazil.,
Factory armored. After production in Germany, the model went to Mexico, where it received the armoring, and only then was it sent to Brazil. Thanks to the trade agreement between Brazil and Mexico, the sedan did not incur import tax, which made its price competitive. The model cost R$ 339,900, compared to R$ 254,900 for the similar model without armoring.
The OE 250 Turbo Avantgarde VR4 came with a 2.0 turbo engine producing 211 hp and a seven-speed automatic transmission, and received VR4 level protection, which stops shots from 12-gauge shotguns and .44 Magnum pistols.
Mercedes-Benz of Brazil reported that the last units of the model were sold at the end of the first quarter of this year. As the E-Class sedan recently changed in Europe, shipments of armored units have been temporarily suspended.
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