Fierce Competition

Plastics applications are falling behind aluminum usage in new European cars.

Reinforced plastic composites, which for 25 years have been used on European body panels, now are facing a recycling challenge that may limit growth.

“Counting all cars produced in Europe, plastic parts averaged 133 kg (293 lbs.) in 2003 and aluminum 110 kg (243 lbs.),” says Michel Costes, CEO of consultant group Mavel SA, which tears down cars for clients. “But for the new models launched in 2003, aluminum was equal to plastics.”

In 2001, aluminum surpassed plastics in North America to become the third most-used automotive material, after steel and iron. Where North America has had some high-volume aluminum projects, such as the hood on the Ford F-150, Europe has had many high-volume plastic projects in bumpers, fenders and hatchbacks. Prior to being replaced last year by a fourth-generation model made of steel, Renault SA's Espace minivan featured an all-composite body.

The material challenge was clear at the late-March exposition of the European composite industry sponsored by industry group JEC.

“We don't want composites, we want materials that provide a given performance at the best cost and with a reliable supply,” says Patrick Kim, manager of polymer composites technologies at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center in Sindelfingen, Germany. “We need proven high-volume processes. The main competition is aluminum, because of the end-of-life vehicle rules.”

In Europe, manufacturers now are responsible for disposing of cars when they are junked, which has put new emphasis on recycling. Some plastics can be recycled, particularly polypropylene. Plastics filled with expensive carbon fiber usually are recycled for their energy content — a positive way to say they are burned. Aluminum and steel scrap is valuable and easily recycled.

“The use of composite materials, as with all plastics, will be slowed down considerably by the new legislation on recycling,” Costes says in a presentation to 200 people at the JEC automotive forum. “Composites will be affected even more than other plastics, not because they are less recyclable, but because they could be more easily replaced by metals, which are easily recycled. Competition will be fierce with steel and aluminum, even magnesium.”

The European Aluminum Assn. predicts that by 2010, the average European car will have 353-529 lbs. (160-240 kg) of aluminum, up from 243 lbs. (110 kg) in 2003.

Reducing weight is important to European OEMs eager to cut fuel consumption. But market pressures to offer more features have fattened the average car by 33 lbs. (15 kg) a year in Europe, despite increasing use of plastic and aluminum.

And cost has become important even to luxury marques such as Mercedes-Benz.

Kim says at the JEC forum that a lighter weight part “can cost a little more, but not much more” than a heavier, cheaper part.

In a study completed in March, the consulting firm Estin & Co. projected composite use will rise by about 5% per year through 2008 for the average European car, but continuing price reductions will offset most of the gains for the industry.

“The prices of almost all materials and finished products have decreased between 1995 and 2002,” says Thomas Farkas, manager of Estin's Paris office. The price of epoxy, for example, fell more than 15% as production more than tripled in China.

Composites — plastics reinforced with glass or carbon fibers — have several advantages for automotive parts, says Ken Kendall, an Aston Martin engineer who oversees production of the carbon-fiber intensive DB9 and Vanquish.

“Composites provide a 15%-60% weight reduction, save 40%-60% on tooling costs, allow deep draw panels and part consolidation,” he says. “Composite parts also resist corrosion.”

Low weight contributes to high performance, and clever shapes impossible to press from metal contribute to brand identity. Ford Motor Co. subsidiary Aston Martin uses the F3P system (Ford Programmable Preforming Process) to make 11 carbon fiber body parts for the DB9 and Vanquish. A robot places carbon fibers precisely in the mold before the resin is added. For parts such as the DB9 body side with large openings for door and window, the system eliminates the 72% scrap that would result from traditional thermoforming methods when the door and window openings are cut away.

F3P, whose innovation is an automatic handling system, is producing 15,000 to 25,000 parts per year and has capacity for more when the baby Aston Martin comes on line. But throughput time of four minutes per part and carbon fiber costs of €11 ($13) per kilogram (2.2 lbs.) limits the system to low-volume applications.

Composites appear to have a solid future in inner door panels and what Europeans call “technical front ends,” which support the radiator, fan, headlamps, latch and other accessories. Composites absorb massive amounts of energy as they crush. An inner door panel made by Ranger Italy for the Lancia Ypsilon includes a bell shape at passenger hip level to meet side impact regulations.

PSA Peugeot Citroen asked supplier Inoplast to work on a technical front end on the Peugeot 407 that will be made in volumes of 300,000 a year for a total production run of 1.2 million. Inoplast chose a 2-material strategy, marrying polypropylene and EPDM, a synthetic rubber, so the part could withstand sustained temperatures of 230° F (110° C) and peaks of 284° F (140° C).

Another part adapted to the material is the rear trunk floor, which can be designed with deep pockets to hold a spare tire and tool kit. In addition, rear floors often vary from one body style to another on the same platform, as in the Renault Megane family.

The Opel Meriva and Ford Focus C-Max both use composites for the upper panel of the air and water boxes at the back of the engine compartment, as they are easily removed and resist high temperatures. Composites also are being used in instrument panels where they have a structural role, as in the C-Max and Volkswagen Golf V.

The Peugeot 407 has a composite rear bumper beam that absorbs without damage the 1.1-ton (1-t) shock of the 9-mph (15-km/h) Allianz test used by insurance companies to establish premiums. Thierry Renault, an engineer with Peguform France, says the beam provides the same protection as steel but costs 10% less and weighs almost half as much, with 40% less investment. PSA is happy with the beam and has several others in development, says engineer Eric Bonte.

But new rules on the horizon will change the equation. Renault says Peguform now is developing a bumper beam that will incorporate a steel tube to meet two future crash test changes: a high-speed impact test at 40 mph (65 km/h) and an increase in the Allianz test weight to 3,080 lbs. (1,400 kg).

Another challenge to the composite industry lies in its complexity. There has been some consolidation in parts of the industry, such as in North America where three distributors control 80% of the market, but hundreds of different companies operate at different levels of a complex supply chain that includes resins, additives, glass and carbon-fiber makers, fabric and pellet producers, final processors and machinery makers.

Two years ago, DaimlerChrysler AG led a research project involving material suppliers and processors that showed what quality improvements could be obtained by rigorous control of the supply chain. However, DaimlerChrysler wants its supplier partner to take that responsibility.

“We don't want to juggle 15 suppliers,” says Kim. “We need proven high-volume processes — low cost with high volume. We want suppliers able to develop a process from raw material and concept to finished part in the car.”