• Granning is pioneering . the use of air suspension
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in light vehicles and will display a Ford "Otis" Transit van at the motor show, fitted with the system.
The company has experimented with a Renault Trafic since 1984 and now wants to move into the volume Ford van market. Ford and other manufacturers expressed interest but appear to be holding back until Granning has perfected its system.
Granning's managing director, Derek Hopkinson, accepts the risk that Granning's work may be taken over by the big battallions, as patents are unavailable for this new application of existing technology. Granning has, however, patented a suspension which can raise and lower the Range Rover chassis.
Air suspension systems are difficult to mass-produce and this may protect Granning's lead in the area. "There is no way to manufacture a kit of parts that will interface with a number of different vehicles," says Hopkinson. "Air suspension has to be custom-designed.
"This is particularly true of the van sector.
"The design aim is to alter the vehicle as little as possible," says Hopkinson.