JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #102 - January/February 2016 - 22

CFRP

German carmakers), or developing
R&D programmes to lower the cost of
CFRP.
On one side, German premium carmakers are under greater pressure than
generalist carmakers as they are further
away from the 2021 target. Within
their model range, they have mediumseries vehicles that are well adapted to
the use of CFRP and they can afford
higher costs than generalist carmakers.
Therefore, they decided to start using
CFRP on medium market-size models.
BMW is, and will remain, the leader in
CFRP use but Audi and Mercedes also
have plans to use these materials.

Fig. 4: Example of the recently launched BMW7 series

lowest possible cost. In 2015, on the
demand of major automotive industry
players, Inovev conducted a study
focusing on the future use of CFRP by
five German carmakers: Audi, BMW,
Mercedes, Porsche, and VW.
The study was conducted on the basis of
previous technical and market studies
related to automotive CFRP that were
carried out by Inovev and its partners
over recent years. Current production
vehicles and concept vehicles were analysed. All the models from the studied
carmakers that will change in the next
5 years were investigated: new models
using new platforms, new models based
on existing platforms, new versions,
refreshed and facelifted models, etc.
This part of the study was supported by
Inovev's comprehensive database on the
forecast of vehicle quantities.
33 executives from the automotive
industry were interviewed, using a
predefined questionnaire as a basis for
discussion. The specialists interviewed
included 8 carmakers, 17 suppliers and
3 independent technical centres.
The raw information was collected and
analysed by a unique combination of

automotive market specialists and automotive technology specialists. Several
automotive technology specialists from
Inovev supervised the technology analysis of the vehicles through the entire
disassembly process (more than 100
vehicles disassembled).
The analysis was constructed taking care
not to confuse the dreams of material
specialists with what will actually be
achieved.
The study was organised into 8 chapters:
- Executive Summary
- Potential Future Systems and Parts
- Market Size of Carbon Fibres:
Current and Future
- Key Suppliers & Supply Chain
- Light Weight & Carbon Strategy
- CFRP R&D Partners
- Pilot Projects and Concept Cars
- Manufacturing Processes Overview
The study highlights that carmakers
opted for two distinct and complementary action plans: starting medium-sized
market production as soon as possible
in order to be ready on-time for the
2021 targets and to learn by practicing
(this is the path followed by premium

22 jec composites magazine / No102 January - February 2016

The plan of German carmakers is to
learn by practicing on an industrial scale
and, more specifically, to lower their
process costs through automation. The
main parts to be produced are bodyshell
reinforcements, cardan shafts, seats,
spoilers and trunk lids. Some of these
parts will account for more significant
tonnages than others.
On the other side, There are more, and
more intense, R&D programmes in
Europe. Their objectives are to reduce
the cost of carbon fibre and to reduce
processing costs by replacing thermosets with thermoplastics (fluid or
reactive thermoplastics), using productive processes such as SMC, automating
all the levels of production and reducing
production scrap. Another objective is
to recycle CFRP.

Conclusion
The use of CFRP in cars manufactured
by German premium carmakers should
increase significantly. The growth rate
for these vehicles and the transfer
of such designs towards lower range
vehicles will depend on the success of
the first series production and the R&D
programmes. n
More information:
www.inovev.com
http://www.inovev.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #102 - January/February 2016
