37th Automotive Innovation Awards

The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) International announced the year 2007 nominations, finalists, and winners in the 37th-annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition. Category, Hall of Fame, and the prestigious Grand Award winners were announced the evening of November 7, 2007 during the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala. .....read more!

Increased safety measures
The front and rear bumper systems of the new C-Class series come with an integrated pedestrian protection

The polymer processor Rehau is the development partner for the front and rear bumper systems of the new C-Class series. The globally active polymer processor, with headquarters in Rehau in the province of Upper Franconia, Germany, manufactures a large proportion of these at its plant in Brake in Lower Saxony, Germany. ....read more!

36th SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Galas

On November 13, 2006, the 36-annual SPE-automotive innovation awards gala commenced at Burton Mannor in Livonia, MI/USA, to once again honor winners of the competition for the year’s Most Innovative Uses of Plastics in transportation applications. The 2006 event was notable for the large number of awards that went to a single OEM - DaimlerChrysler - which swept 7 of the 11 top awards. ....read more!

Ideas in interior
Johnson Controls supplies many interior products for new Mercedes-Benz C-Class

For the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Johnson Controls is supplying the headliner, together with sun visors and grab handles, the rear seat structure, the instrument panel and seating components, plus the integrated HomeLink garage door opener and park distance warning display, both of which accessories are optional extras. ....read more!

Well represented
ContiTech is represented in the new C-Class with several products

ContiTech is very much present in the latest models of DaimlerChrysler‘s Mercedes-Benz C-Class line-up with a whole series of Benecke-Kaliko products - Tepeo2, a compact film for the centre console, Tepeo expanded vinyl for the door trim and Roy PVC expanded leatherette for the seats. ContiTech multiple-ribbed V-belts, fuel management system diaphragms and steering boots are also to be found in the vehicle. ....read more!

The ultimate in adaptability – design your own car!

It had to happen! Now the Paris-based design agency Fritsch Associés has come up with what could be a new way of thinking about the cars we drive: a flexible design concept that allows the car-owners freedom to tailor the car to their own requirements. Today a jaunt in the country, tomorrow a workhorse – in one and the same motor vehicle? Fritsch Associés envision a single automotive concept sufficiently flexible to adapt to the individual requirements of the vehicle’s owner. ....read more!

Mercedes C-Class
Vehicle of the month

The purpose of this section which we feature in every edition of our magazine is to present the results of design analysis of vehicles recently launched on the automobile market. This 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 (which is available in “Mavel’s report”) but rather to throw light on some noteworthy aspects. ....read more!

China
China’s economic development continues to act as a magnet for the automotive industry

Together with India, China ranks as the most important market of the future as far as the industrial sector is concerned and forms the focus of its hopes. Low labour costs, a gross domestic product with a growth rate of 10.7% in 2007, around 12 vehicles for every 1,000 inhabitants but with a rapidly growing demand for small cars and medium category vehicles - all reasons echoing why there is still no let up in China’s appeal for the automotive and supply industries. ....read more!

Automotive hot spot
Shanghai Volkswagen achieves record sales in China

Volkswagen was one of the first international car makers to venture into China. Their contracts go back to the year 1978, when the Chinese government introduced its policy of economic reform and a more open approach to its relationships with foreign enterprise. The aim was to use capital and technology from abroad to accelerate industrialisation in the country and to gain an international competitive edge. Polymotive went to Shanghai to visit the internationally established car maker. ....read more!

”China is responding to the global requirements
– step by step“
Roy Zhuang and Edward Yue in conversation with Polymotive on the role of Dow Automotive in China

With more than 2.000 employees across the region and a sales revenue of US $ 2.7 billion in 2006, Greater China is Dow’s third largest market in the world behind the United States and Germany. Headquartered in Shanghai, Dow Greater China maintains 5 business offices and 10 manufacturing sites. A state-of-the-art R&D centre and a global information technology (IT) service centre are planned to be completed in the third quarter 2008. Both of which will be housed in a new Dow Center in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, Shanghai. We visited Dow’s offices, in order to probe a little deeper into the company’s success in China. ....read more!

Successful set-up in Shanghai
Machine manufacturer Engel maintains its international position

European machine manufacturers are under increasing pressure from manufacturers from China: these are the findings of a study carried out by the VDMA (German Engineering Federation) working in cooperation with a management consultancy. What can be done about the competition from the Far East? The Austrian manufacturer of injection moulding plant, Engel, has pinpointed the answer to this question. ....read more!

China all-inclusive
An automotive components manufacturer from Germany is enjoying growth in the Chinese market

The history of Mann+Hummel in China began in 1996 with the opening of a Sales Office in Shanghai. Following on from the success of an initial joint venture in 2002 came the establishment of two further companies, and the construction of a new plant by 2009 is being planned. Polymotive met the new Managing Director of Mann+Hummel Group China, Patrick J.R. Cudmore, together with the Senior Manager Filter Trading, Miloslav Smolka, and talked with them about the opportunities offered by the Chinese market to an automotive OEM and component producer as well as about the challenges. ....read more!

Advanced ideas in polyamide
The second largest PA 6.6 producer in the world presents its expanded portfolio

At the last K, Rhodia demonstrated its new developments in the polyamide sector and the new application possibilities resulting from them. Polymotive was on site and spoke with Jean-Claude Steinmetz, Vice-President Automotive and Transportation Markets, about the trends in R&D as well as the company’s contribution towards savings in CO2 emissions. ....read more!

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