Chrysler Shines

The use of plastics on three Chrysler Group vehicles won four of five categories in the 32nd annual Society of Plastics Engineers Innovation Awards ceremonies.

The extruded polymer film fascia on the '02 Dodge Neon, which won the Process and Enabling technologies category, also was the grand award winner. Applications for the '03 Dodge Viper won two categories, and the Body Interior title went to the blow-molded speaker-pod assembly in the '03 Jeep Wrangler.

“We're proud any time our innovations are highlighted,” a Chrysler spokesman says. “We're always looking at materials that meet a series of criteria, such as weight reduction, environmentally friendly, cost effectiveness and reliability. Plastic is going to fit that bill. We're happy that we can continue to innovate while maintaining those themes.”

General Motors Corp. prevented a Chrysler sweep by winning the Body Exterior category with the thermoformed rocker moldings in its '03 Chevrolet TrailBlazer North Face Edition SUV. The panel of judges for the SPE awards is comprised of academia, plastics analysts and the media, including Ward's.

While each category winner was impressive, the '02 Neon's extruded polymer film fascia grabbed the grand award by eliminating a portion of the paint process at the assembly plant. By making a part with color instead of painting the component after it's made, Chrysler eliminates air pollution, paint sludge and energy consumption for its paint ovens. “Molded-in-color” technologies have struggled previously because they lacked the high-gloss finish achieved on parts coated in the paint shop.

But Chrysler and its suppliers successfully matched paint on body panels. Cost is reduced $5 to $15 from the previous plastic part, and Chrysler says the technology can be transferred to other vehicle lines and components such as claddings, body side moldings and grilles.

With additional film and panel development, Chrysler anticipates that the film can replace paint on body panels. That would be revolutionary in automotive production.

Winner of the Body Exterior category, GM's thermoformed rocker moldings on its Chevy Avalanche also eliminate conventional paint processes.

This product has a composite sheet with an exterior layer of dry paint construction laminated to a thermoplastic olefin substrate. It is the first application of a thermoformed high-gloss body color component on a production vehicle.

The '03 Wrangler's blow-molded speaker-pod assembly took the Interior segment with its remarkable cost and weight reductions. It is 54% less expensive than the previous steel components and achieves a 35% weight savings of 4 lbs. (1.8 kg).

It also passed water-seal tests needed for the topless Wrangler and improved head-impact results — a hollow plastic part absorbs more energy than a cloth-covered steel component.

The '03 Viper's fender support system won the Chassis/Hardware/Assembly category for being the first use of carbon fiber sheet-molded composite (SMC) in an automotive application. Weight was reduced from the previous steel part by 40 lbs. (18.1 kg), and 15 to 20 brackets were consolidated. Higher volume programs using carbon fiber SMC fenders might be coming. The material and type of structure used in the low-volume Viper could be applied to programs up to 150,000 units annually.

Key to its use is the price of carbon fiber, which has declined from astronomical to $13 to $16 per pound for Viper, with an ultimate goal of $4 per pound, according to Chrysler, Meridian Automotive Systems and other suppliers involved in the project.

Carbon fiber SMC, molded together with glass fiber SMC, on the '03 Viper also won the Materials category. By blending the materials, Chrysler and its suppliers made a stronger and lighter door-hinge area compared to the outgoing steel application, which was 6 lbs. (2.7 kg) heavier. Chrysler and its suppliers envision the material hybrid being used on high-volume SMC structures to achieve the properties of carbon fiber while minimizing the cost.