Automotive

While automotive suppliers are more optimistic about increased business from the OEMs in 2013, OEMs continue to be concerned about tightening capacity and suppliers’ ability to meet launch schedules. Those are the latest findings from the Automotive Supplier Barometer released this week by the Original Equipment Suppliers Association in partnership with Deloitte LLP.
   

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly in the spotlight in trouble spots throughout the world, but they are also finding increased use in civilian applications. In parallel, suppliers of advanced thermoplastics such as Sabic are addressing demands for aerospace grade materials that meet a number of stringent operational requirements.

NatureWorks is targeting ABS replacement in PC/ABS in major durable applications including automotive interiors and business machines.

"The standard grade of ABS is a straight drop in for ABS in existing tooling," said Frank Diodato, business director, durables, at NatureWorks, in an interview. The cost is about $1/lb, comparable to ABS in most areas of the world.

Fiber made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber has been employed as a ballistic material in a amphibious armored personnel vehicle produced in Turkey. The fiber is used in the form of a tape made from Dyneema UHMWPE supplied by DSM Dyneema (Urmond, The Netherlands).

The oldest and largest awards event in the automotive plastics industry will be held Nov. 6 in Livonia, MI under the theme "Plastics: Kick the Metal Habit". The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers said the 43rd-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala will once again take place at Burton Manor. Jeffrey Helms, global automotive director, Ticona Engineering Polymers, returns as the 2013 SPE Automotive Innovation Awards chair.

Greater use of structural adhesives and aluminum is helping Cadillac (Detroit, MI) reduce overall weight of the ATS and all-new CTS sedans, reportedly contributing to better ride and handling and reduced cabin noise in both models.

It has been said that conventional electric vehicles need to break out of their current design shell of essentially being based on conventional gasoline-powered chassis and body design, with a battery tossed in below the floorboards in  place of an engine. Failing which, they won't enjoy significant market penetration. Renault's latest electric concept car may hint at what's in store.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Tokyo) has acquired the PVC compounding business of Comtrex, LLC (Warren, MI). This is the second such move made by the company following its offer to purchase the compounding business of the Tessenderlo Group (Brussels, Belgium).

The XL1 Super Efficient Vehicle from Volkswagen has gone into limited production at the automaker's Osnabrück plant in Germany with carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) and aluminum dominating as materials of construction. The vehicles boasts fuel consumption of just 0.9 l/100 km (approx. 261 mpg US).

Long-delayed equipment investments, a resurgent automotive market, and one of the world's largest plastics shows came together last spring to help push a number of equipment suppliers in North America to record performances in 2012, including automation and injection molding machine supplier Engel.

"[NPE2012] certainly didn't hurt; we really couldn't have timed it any better," Engel North America President Mark Sankovitch told PlasticsToday. "The show was just one part of multiple pieces-everything aligned."