The module, introduced on Wednesday at the society of automotive engineers international Congress and exposition (SAE'99) here, is a result of physical and electrical integration of the vehicles sub-systems with the cockpit, chairman, chief executive officer and president of the $28 billion Delphi, J T Battenberg III told newsmen here.

Modules are groups of components and subsystems that arearranged in close physical proximity to each other within a vehicle, integrated into a unit that provides a wide range of manufacturing and performance benefits.Benefits of the system include reductions in mass and part numbers, simplified assembly and packaging and better integration with other vehicles systems, Battenberg III said.

"Currently the conceptcockpits is driven by mechanical linkages. Through electrical/electronics integration and with advanced steering and chassis technologies, we can eliminate the throttle and brake pedals and put those controls electronically within the cockpit,'' Delphi's director of modular cockpit products, Anthony Gardner said.

Also included in the driver and passenger side modulesare head-up displays for driver information and passenger information/entertainment. The center module includes a flat panel display featuring audio, heat ventilation and air-conditioning controls, nevigation and instrumentation.

With the module concept, conversion from left toright hand drive is accomplished by releasing a lock and rotating the vehicle control module from the left side of the cockpit to the right side.

Vehicle owners, who prefer a ``sportier'' feel one dayand a softer ``touring sedan'' feel the next day would be able to change that performance charecteristic within seconds, gardner said.

In addition, the controls andinformation systems are personalised and stored in the cockpit control centre which could be programmed for the driver, he said.

"Now the driver can choose the driving position, type of control and displays and even the driving feel and vehicle charecteristics by selecting progrmame,'' Gardner said.