JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #34 - July/August 2007 - 25

Trend emission regulations from the EU and growing demand for comfort from customers, without compromising the high performance and low cost of vehicles. There is also a clear trend towards increasing size and technology content in European vehicles. Consequently, the average weight of European vehicles will keep increasing in the coming years. Focus Mavel specialises in high-value-added information and analyses for the automotive industry design chain (carmakers, system suppliers and material producers) and is a leader in benchmarking analyses through its Autobench and Bodybench programs. These involve taking cars entirely apart (including all systems and the body-in-white) and creating databases, for the purpose of design analysis for innovation and recycling. Mavel has dismantled 58 vehicles to date. Mavel supplies qualitative and quantitative information through its automotive observatory department (data and forecasts for vehicles and engines, data analyses and trends) and provides prospective and strategic studies through its studies department (multi-customer materials studies, single-client customized studies). Its latest study is entitled “Plastics in the European Automotive Industry: State of the Art and Forecast 2006-2012”. integration will cause its market share to increase gradually against steel. As regards door panels, the main change factors include environmental positioning versus natural fibres and function integration. PP and ABS are the main competitors in this application. As far as we know, the market share of PP will grow slowly against ABS due to its cost-effectiveness and the willingness of German carmakers to use more natural fibres (as in the VW Passat, the BMW 3 Series or in Mercedes cars). Some new developments are expected in the near future; for instance, wood and natural fibres will be used increasingly in these applications. Average weight in kg between 1990 and 2010. As a consequence, Mavel’s Automotive Observatory expects that, by 2010, the weight of light vehicles (passenger cars and light utility vehicles) will be increasing by 2.5% per year. New composite developments for the European automotive market Interior parts Under-the-hood components Carmakers are striving to reduce the weight in the front of the car and save money by integrating functions in the front-end carrier. System suppliers are proposing an SMC process, a hybrid (PA + steel) design, or PP LGF depending on the , carmaker’s requirements. Two kinds of substitution are possible: replacing metals (steel or aluminium) with plastics, or replacing other plastics (UP and PA) with PP LGF . On new models, the front-end carrier is often made of plastics. Carmakers are not only designing cars more and more with front end carriers, they are also tending to use plastics to replace metals. As for the competition among PP LGF PA + steel, and SMC, there , is no clear trend for the future. The choice of material depends on the temperature-resistance requirements, which can vary according to the carmaker and, sometimes, to the platform design. Accelerator pedal-Passat VW. The key change factors for gearbox levers and pedals include weight reduction in the front of the car and the costeffectiveness of PP GF compared to steel, aluminium, magnesium and PA GF Aluminium, magnesium, PA GF and PP . SGF are all competing vigorously to replace steel in this application. According to the available information, the costeffectiveness of PP SGF will cause its market share to increase gradually against PA GF while its potential for function , No34 July-August 2007 / JEC Composites Magazine
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #34 - July/August 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #34 - July/August 2007
