A door beam housed in a vehicle door has a rear end which is positioned in overlapping relationship to a central pillar in the lateral direction of a vehicle body. A bracket which is of a channel-shaped horizontal cross section is fixed to the rear of the door beam so as to be positioned closely to the central pillar when the door is closed. The bracket is effective in increasing the lateral rigidity of the vehicle body to efficiently absorb and distribute shocks applied during a lateral collision from an initial phase thereof.

A modular vehicle door has a hollow door shell of sheet metal panels that are secured together at their abutting periphery, a crash beam that is attached to hollow door shell so as to extend across the length of the door, and a module that supports several parts of vehicle door that is preassembled and assembled to the hollow door shell as the preassembled module. The hollow door shell has a hinge reinforcement at a forward end and a latch reinforcement at an aft end. The module has a metal support beam that is attached to the hinge reinforcement at one end and to the latch reinforcement at the other end so that the metal support beam extends across the length of the door and forms a box section with the crash beam. The metal support beam has upper and lower channels and the module includes an insert molded carrier that has a plurality of ribs that cooperate with the channels of the metal support beam to increase the torsional ridgidity of the metal support beam. When attached to the door shell, the module improves the crashworthiness of the modular vehicle door.

A door cartridge assembly is provided to be installed into a vehicle door. The assembly includes a door hardware mounting panel having door components mounted thereon and being constructed and arranged to be fixedly mounted to a vehicle door; coupling structure carried by the mounting panel; and a door latch assembly constructed and arranged to be secured to a vehicle door to provide a latch for the vehicle door. The door latch assembly includes a latching member constructed and arranged to be movable between a latching position and a releasing position. The coupling structure is constructed and arranged to receive the latching member in latching relation therewith when the latching member is in the latching position thereof, thereby permitting the mounting panel to be transported with the door latch assembly connected thereto. The door latch assembly is operable to move the latch member from the latching position to the releasing position permitting the latch assembly to be removed from latching relation with the coupling structure and to be subsequently secured to the vehicle door.

A mounting plate for an anti-intrusion reinforcement member includes securing features that secure the plate to a vehicle door. The mounting plate also includes a plurality of mounting interfaces for the reinforcement member. The plate can be fitted to different mounting points in the door and to different reinforcement members, simplifying the production of the mounting plate. An anti-intrusion assembly including the plate, and a door with the assembly are also provided.