Research & development

The world-wide leading position in the market and international success in motor racing mean both to NGK: an obligation and a challenge.

Therefore, enormous efforts are made, for further improvement of proven technologies and to make ignition technology on the whole more efficient, more reliable, and more friendly to the environment, based on our own innovations.

The NGK research and development work is based in the Technical Center at Ratingen, established in 1990. Since that time it has continuously been expanding and provides competent support to the European automotive manufacturers. 

The NGK Technical Center has, for instance:

A test facility covering an area of approx. 2,200 sqm into which approx. 15 million EUR have been invested.

Three modern engine test rigs for endurance and application tests.

Cold-climate chambers in which engine and chassis can be cooled down to -30°C for analysing cold-start performance.

Comprehensive equipment for carrying out full exhaust gas tests, and also tests for the examination of Lambda sensors regarding their long-term quality and reaction time.

Summarising, the NGK Technical Center at Ratingen is perfectly equipped for dealing with all the needs of the automotive industry. For special cases in conjunction with the equipment of still secret prototypes NGK can even provide a "mobile task unit" which can be made available to the respective work's departments on site. 

In addition to higher performance and longer service life of spark plugs and Lambda sensors the protection of the environment is always playing a major role in NGK research and development work.

In recent years, for instance, EUR 1 million alone have been invested in test facilities for exhaust gas sensor technology, in order to be able to satisfy in co-operation with the automotive manufacturers the environmental legislation, which is becoming increasingly strict. 

The success justifies the NGK effort. Today, the world-wide biggest spark plug manufacturer is one of the preferred suppliers of original equipment to the automotive industry. Renowned manufacturers like, for instance, Aston Martin, BMW, Fiat, Ford, Renault, Rover, Land Rover, and Volvo, as well as most Japanese car manufacturers are making use of the forward-looking development work in their engine technology. To them, NGK is offering a maximum performance level, tested safety, and quality, always on a state-of-the-art technology level.

The success achieved so far is no reason for NGK to "rest on the laurels". On the contrary. NGK goes on working at further improvements and new ignition technologies, looking in particular at the new direct-injection Otto engines which are characterised in particular by the fact that these units will have to deal with particularly lean fuel-air mixtures , while in stratified operating mode the mixture at the spark plug is very rich. A new challenge which has been accepted by NGK and will - most certainly - be solved very soon.