What is happening when nothing is hap-pening
Dr. Becker tells things as they are at the OEMs

No book could be more up to the minute than this: insolven-cies amongst the larger American suppliers, problems for OEMs, scandals at management levels – everything is more or less there in Dr. Helmut Becker’s book “High Noon in the Automotive Industry” (English version ap-pearing at the beginning of Dec. 2005). We wanted to know from the man himself about his vision of the future and talked to him in his Munich institute (IWK). ....read more!

A hymn of praise to PP in the auto-mobile
Frimo process technology for seamless airbags

For Peter van Pul (Fig.1), CEO Polypropylene Automotive at Sabic, there are no doubts about it: the proportion of plastic in the auto-mobile is rising constantly. Although the average total weight of a motor car, at just under 1200 kg, will hardly have changed even by 2010, the average proportion of plastic in the car is increasing every fi ve years by 0.5 to 1%. Putting it into perspective, cars now feature a shade over 120 kg of plastic, a fi gure which is set to rise to approx. 140 kg (Fig. 2) by 2010. ....read more!

90 % from a single source
Suzuki opts for plastics from Sabic

Sabic, the manufacturer of polymer materials, is developing and produc-ing plastics specially for the automotive manu-facturer Suzuki to be used in the company’s new Swift model. In this vehicle almost 90 % of all the plastic parts made of PP are fabricated using material from Sabic. ....read more!

Good run with PU
PU applications for exterior and interior

PU-systems play an important role in the automotive industry – this fact has been proven by Elastogran once again. They present three applications as there are a TPU cup holder for the new Audi A6, an instru-ment panel for the new Land Rover Discovery, and exterior mirrors for Mercedes SLR McLaren. ....read more!

News from France
Safety features and other stories from Plastic Omnium

At the IAA the French supplier Plastic Omnium exhibited a number of innovations, a few of which are presented here. Sev-eral exhibits, like the rear fl oor module are still at the bright idea stage, and have yet to be taken up by OEMs. Others, like the rear bumper beam for the Renault Modus, are already out on the road. ....read more!

Innovative cross-member concept
Single-piece inlay plate for hybrid front-end structures

Aksys GmbH has been sup-plying plastic cross members to the Volkswagen Corpora-tion for the VW Golf A3 and Polo A03 models since their introduction. More than 15 million cross-members have in the meantime been delivered from their plants in Germany, Mexico and Brazil. ....read more!

BMW 1 Serie
The vehicle of the month:

This section of our magazine is devoted to a comprehen-sive analysis of a vehicle recently launched on the automo-bile market. The article was produced in collaboration with Mavel, a European leader in car design analysis. The aim of this article is not to present a detailed examination of a design (refer to the “Mavel” report), but rather to highlight some noteworthy features. ....read more!

Lubricant? Not necessary!
New developments in plastic bearing technology

Igus of Cologne/Germany, researcher, developer and producer of high-performance polymer plain bearings for automotive applica-tions is convinced, that lubricant-free and maintenance-free plas-tic bearings reduce weight, extend service life and lead to cost savings of up to 70 percent. Thus, for example, it is possible to replace needle bearings by plastic bushes in the engine compart-ment. The same is true for applications in brakes, steering, engine compartments and many other important areas on vehicles. ....read more!

RIM for the medium segment
Door trim module and instrument panel

As announced in our IAA motor show preview (Polymotive 07+08/05) Johnson Controls presented an innovative door trim module. But this was not the only interesting feature we found at the stand. The company is now employing a new RIM technology to manufacture the instrument panel of a medium-segment vehicle. ....read more!

Colourful interiors
Multi-coloured slush skins in the passenger compartment spawn new production processes

“Mobiles Cocooning“ is the name of the trend towards individualising the inside of the passenger compart-ment on a motor vehicle and arranging it to make it more comfortable. The cockpit, for example, can be made to look more attractive, by using two or more colours. This new trend however does require innovative production processes. ....read more!

Air, fuel and oil
Different fi lter elements with integrated functions

One of the fi rst compa-nies to open their stand at the IAA trade show were Mann+Hummel. Their core business is fi ltration in all its aspects. This concerns such different media as air, fuel and oil. What is new in this fi eld you can read here?....read more!

One half is enough
PU spray technology

Under the name PUR-CSM Multitec Hennecke GmbH, Sankt Augustin, Germany, is market-ing a new variant of its poly-urethane spray technology. This new processing technique in the CSM portfolio requires only one mould half and no mould carrier. ....read more!

Read more about several products for the automotive industry
....read more!