Bosch is uprating its support for the independent aftermarket in a package designed to help garages cope with the rising penetration of ABS and ESP systems.

Bosch notes that 90% of cars produced in Europe offer ABS and in Germany, the number of cars offering ESP has already reached 50%. Britain will soon match this market penetration. Bosch is offering workshops support in terms of equipment, systems information and support needed to undertake brake servicing. Equipment includes Bosch's KTS 520, 550 and 650 diagnostic testers together with ESI software.

The identification of systems through the ESI-A Disc is a precondition for the use of all other ESI information. ESI-A provides access to approximately 18,000 cars, 11,500 commercial vehicles, 5,000 motorcycles and 8,000 tractors and special vehicles. That amounts to about of 95 % of Bosch-supplied vehicles in Western Europe. It also provides added value through conversion of Bosch part numbers to manufacturer's numbers.

ESI-C includes information for fault elimination for passenger car brake systems and comfort systems as well as engine management for petrol and diesel vehicles. Bosch says the modularity of the ESI-C series allows garages to select the tools that match their individual skills and services.

Bosch also offers training courses in brake technology: the VSC 6 course has been developed for garage technicians testing and repairing vehicle braking systems who have not received previous training on ABS systems. VSC 13 is a more advanced course for garage service technicians who already carry out diagnostic and repair work on ABS, Traction Control and ESP systems fitted to passenger cars. As well as training courses, Bosch produces technical information booklets, known as 'Yellow Books', supplemented with a technical telephone hotline.

The Bosch technical support website for UK garages is at www.boschautoparts.co.uk.