Composites end markets: Automotive (2025)

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Sources (top, clockwise) | Airel Motor Co., Röchling, Alia Mentis and Autoneum

As the automotive sector confronts the pressing need to build low-emission or zero-emission vehicles in line with stringent global environmental mandates, the appetite for lightweight, sustainable materials and manufacturing processes in this industry has surged. According to Mordor Intelligence (Telangana, India), the automotive composites market size is estimated at $10.06 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $17.72 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period (2025-2030).

The American Composites Manufacturing Association (ACMA, Arlington, Va., U.S.) recently reported that global demand for lightweight vehicle composite materials hit a record high of 4.9 billion pounds (2.22 billion kilograms) in 2024, reflecting how the automotive industry is widely adopting composite materials for various uses -- moving beyond just high-performance and aesthetics to include everyday automotive components that take advantage of their beneficial properties.

Looking to specific materials use in automotive, intelligence and market researcher MarketsandMarkets (Pune, India) notes that glass fiber composites currently make up 92% of the composites used in the automotive market, while carbon fiber only accounts for 0.6%, despite its higher performance. This stems from glass fiber's comparatively low cost, showcasing the cost-driven initiatives held within this high-volume market.

In 2025, the business end of the automotive composites sector is undergoing major changes. Companies are realigning portfolios, expanding capacities and positioning themselves for new opportunities in the evolving automotive landscape, particularly with the rise of electric vehicles (EVs).

The industry has seen significant restructuring, including divestitures that have altered competitive dynamics. For instance, in February 2025, Forvia (Nanterres, France) sold its Faurecia Lightweight Solutions business to ASC Investment (Munich, Germany). The new company, Compositec, operates from locations in Saint-Meloir-des-Ondes and Theillay, along with a high-tech R&D center in Saint-Malo. Compositec focuses solely on composites for sports and luxury cars, e-mobility, trucks and off-road vehicles.

In a similar vein, TPI Composites Inc. (TPI, Scottsdale, Ariz., U.S.) sold its automotive business unit to Clear Creek Investments LLC (CCI, Solana Beach, Calif., U.S.), rebranding it as Senvias Inc. By doing so, TPI is prioritizing its core wind energy operations while directing the automotive assets toward EV investments.

The sector recently gained significant private equity interest, highlighted by Aurelius Private Equity's (New York, N.Y., U.S.) acquisition of Teijin Automotive Technologies North America (TAT-NA Auburn Hills, Mich., U.S.), reported to be one of the largest deals in automotive composites. TAT-NA operates 14 facilities in the U.S. and Mexico, employs around 4,500 people and generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Major composites manufacturers are showing confidence in the long-term demand for automotive composites by investing heavily in capacity expansion. Bucci Composites (Faenza, Italy), for example, doubled the size of its main facility in 2024 to 240,000 square feet. The company added three new high-tonnage compression presses, two at 1,500 tons and one at 2,500 tons, bringing Bucci's total press capacity to five systems, plus an 800-ton preforming press for medium- and high-volume production.

Notably, the business strategies in this end market are increasingly integrating sustainability as a competitive differentiator rather than just a compliance requirement. Since early 2024, the European Court of Auditors, the supreme audit institution of the European Union, has legislated that European OEMs need suppliers to include product carbon footprint data with each quotation, aligning with industry-wide efforts to achieve net-zero CO emissions by 2035; this requirement is becoming standardized through frameworks like Catena-X, with full mandatory compliance expected by the end of 2025.

As a collective, the automotive industry is positioning for sustained growth despite near-term market uncertainties. The strategic emphasis on powertrain-agnostic solutions, diversification into adjacent mobility sectors and operational efficiency improvements indicates sophisticated risk management approaches to navigate the said automotive industry's ongoing transformation.

The emphasis on energy-efficient processing through HP-RTM as an alternative to high-energy traditional compression molding, combined with investments in composite material scrap recycling technologies, indicates that operational economic improvements are being pursued through technology advancement rather than cost reduction alone.

Tailored composites manufactured through advanced automated processes achieving significant cycle time reductions while cutting energy consumption is currently a major focus area for the high-end automotive industry. An example reported in CW in March 2025, supercar manufacturer McLaren Automotive (Sheffield, U.K.) showed how combining automotive and aerospace manufacturing techniques can improve performance and sustainability. Applying more than 40 years of experience with carbon fiber, McLaren developed the automated rapid tape (ART) manufacturing method, adapting aerospace automated fiber placement (AFP) technology by using a machine with a fixed deposition head and a fast-moving bed that has a number of axes of movement. This enables quicker manufacturing processes that meet automotive needs while still achieving the precise fiber placement that aerospace AFP offers.

The ART system enables customized fiber placement, which McLaren reports creates strength and stiffness in ways that traditional hand layup cannot achieve. The approach focuses on optimizing stiffness in specific directions while keeping flexibility in other areas.

The tape-based ART method improves structural stiffness by 5-10% compared to fabric-based materials. Material efficiency is also up to 95% of composite tape deposited, which cuts down on waste. The automated process also reduces the chances of human error, meaning that final parts meet design standards while reducing the number of rejected parts.

A digital control and monitoring suite supports the ART manufacturing with simulation tools that can quickly predict defects, fiber angles and material properties and real-time track around 80 factors each cycle, such as temperature, pressure and curing times. This suite also helps design for manufacture methodologies, supporting tooling and preform build before production starts, speeding up manufacturing time and lowering costs.

Another example of high-rate manufacturing technology is HP Composites' (Ascoli Piceno, Italy) AirPower technology, an evolution of bladder-assisted compression molding (BACM) principles optimized for large automotive components. An October 2024 story highlights how the company's technology enhances traditional BACM design by introducing a custom flexible counter mold that combines the functions of a bladder and a vacuum bag, with the split lower mold consisting of upper and lower sections. This enables prepreg ply placement on the upper section without initiating curing and maintaining the lower part at the curing temperature.

By keeping the lower part of the lower mold at a constant temperature, AirPower eliminates the need for repeated heating and cooling cycles, resulting in up to 50% energy savings compared to traditional autoclave methods. This constant-temperature approach also enables rapid cycle times while maintaining quality standards, as demonstrated in the Maserati MC20 roof production where the full production cycle, from laying up the prepreg to a fully consolidated part, takes just 2 hours.

The composites industry is witnessing the emergence of comprehensive industrial recycling infrastructure that addresses the full spectrum of waste from production to end of life (EOL) with streams to re-enter production for high-value composite applications. Validation through motorsport and other demanding applications proves recycled materials can also meet the most stringent performance requirements of automotive platforms while addressing sustainability mandates.

In this realm, V-Carbon (London, U.K.) has developed a chemolysis-based carbon fiber recycling process that operates under relatively mild conditions compared to conventional pyrolysis methods. The process runs under 200°C and 3 bar pressure using standard industrial reactor equipment, eliminating the need for high-pressure vessels or extreme temperatures that characterize other composite recycling approaches.

The chemolysis process dissolves composite structures in an organic medium, separating carbon fiber from resin matrix while maintaining fiber integrity. Material recovery rates reach as high as 100%, with the process yielding both clean carbon fiber and what the company terms "recyclate" -- recovered resin components that can be reprocessed. Long fiber input typically results in 5-10% short fiber output channeled into compound markets, with the remaining long fibers directed toward high-performance applications.

The recovered carbon fiber achieves 80-85% of virgin material performance according to company data. The McLaren Formula 1 Team, (Woking, U.K.) implemented V-Carbon's recycled carbon fiber (rCF) in Formula 1 in 2024, initially deployed in nonstructural cockpit panels. The application serves as validation for automotive integration, demonstrating that recycled materials can meet high-performance requirements.

Beyond McLaren, the company has established partnerships with several other automotive and motorsport entities focusing on understanding how rCF integrates into existing manufacturing workflows and material certification processes for high-performance applications. V-Carbon materials have been incorporated into Formula E applications, for example, while Porsche has collaborated on life cycle assessment studies that validate the technology's environmental benefits.

V-Carbon notes that production waste from manufacturing operations offers the most immediate focus for automotive-quality material sources. Unlike EOL products, production waste provides consistent quality and composition, enabling more predictable recycling outcomes. Manufacturing integration capabilities extend across multiple formats. V-Carbon produces recycled material in compound, yarn and tape configurations. Compound applications target mass-market automotive uses where cost sensitivity drives material selection. Yarn products serve mid-tier applications requiring moderate performance characteristics. Tape formats address high-performance applications, though at price points closer to virgin material costs.

In other motorsport rCF applications, the transformation of rCF waste into engineered nonwoven materials demonstrates sophisticated industrial application capabilities. Tenowo's (Hof, Germany) needle-punched nonwoven recycled carbon fiber manufactured Formula 2 seat is an example of this. The company begins by using secondary carbon fiber from various sources such as edge cuts, loops and trimmings from woven and noncrimp fabric (NCF) production, leftover rovings, textile cutoffs and fibers from EOL components.

The manufacturing process enables material property control through tailoring processing parameters. The rCF is mechanically or thermally adjusted to a length between 40-80 millimeters and then carded to form a loose web, with subsequent fiber pile laying process where multiple layers are cross laid to achieve the desired thickness and further control the orientation of the fibers. The needle-punch process sees barbed needles driven through the layers, creating a complex 3D fiber entanglement. The frequency of needle punches, the depth of needle penetration and the advance rate of the web are all adjustable to control the final material properties.

The resulting material achieves remarkable environmental performance, as demonstrated in the Dallara Group S.r.l. (Varano de' Melegari, Italy) Formula 2 seat application where the 100% recycled, needle-punched nonwoven CFRP achieves a 97.5% reduction in CO emissions compared to seats made with virgin carbon fiber, dropping seat production from 40 kilograms of CO equivalent per kilogram of material to just 1 kilogram.

Multi-process composite recycling strategies that address both current waste streams and future EOL material within unified production systems are critical to the automotive industry's composite marketplace. An example of this type of operation is demonstrated by Voith Composites (Heidenheim, Germany), working with partners including Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) for materials, Tenowo for nonwoven manufacturing and Delta-Preg for resin impregnation on two different recycling processes: one for recycling of manufacturing scraps and one for EOL parts such as automotive hydrogen (H) tanks.

Here, an acid-based solvolysis process extracts carbon fibers and resins from composite parts that have reached EOL, with 60-80 millimeters of carbon fibers extracted, reoriented and remanufactured into 50-millimeter-wide unidirectional (UD) tapes that are then impregnated with epoxy and tailored into preforms for new automotive components using the Voith Roving Applicator technology.

Dry carbon fiber cuttings from Voith's H tank winding process can be collected and cut to about 60 millimeters in length, oriented and manufactured into a dry nonwoven fabric, impregnated with resin and laid up into a prepreg stack to be pressed in a closed-mold process into a final end-use part.

Other advanced fiber recovery technologies are also demonstrating the viability of maintaining continuous fiber lengths for high-value reuse applications. The FCVGen2.0 consortium's objectives, comprising Cygnet Texkimp's (Northwich, U.K.) and Viritech (Nuneaton, Warwickshire, U.K.) led by Ford Motor Co., was to develop and evaluate a viable recycling route for EOL Ford E-Transit H fuel tank components that maintains the properties of, and develops uses for, recycled fiber, in order to accelerate the industrialization of recycling technologies in automotive. Cygnet's deployed Fibre Recover System successfully processed Viritech's graphene nanomaterial and recovered the tank's carbon fibers using DEECOM pressurized steam-based recycling, with the reclaimed fibers then mechanically unwound and rewound onto bobbins, ready to be reused in conventional applications like filament winding, pultrusion, weaving, UD prepreg and towpreg.

The Fibre Recovery System plays a crucial role in advancing strategies for recycling and disassembly. By connecting the DEECOM fiber recycling process with extensive filament winding capabilities, it establishes a comprehensive solution for processing and repurposing composite fibers.

The rise of dedicated divisions like Forvia's Materi'Act division, formed in November 2022, further highlights the integration of recycling in the automotive supply chain. Materi'Act focuses on producing sustainable materials with as much as an 85% lower carbon footprint, covering compounds and foils.

In compounds, the division is developing resins like polyolefins and styrenics using up to 90% recycled material and bio-based content, while ensuring quality through AI property prediction.

This shift in recycling practices signifies a major change in how the composites industry manages material lifecycles, with operations expanding across Europe, Asia and soon North America to support global automotive supply chains.

According to Towards Automotive (Maharashtra, India) research, Asia is currently the global epicenter of the automotive composites market, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for one-third of it and projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.0% for the rest of the decade. Its increasing consumption is led by a "robust automotive production base, rising demand for lightweight vehicles [fuel efficiency] and increasing adoption of electric mobility solutions," says Market Data Forecast (Hyderabad, India). In fact, the region accounted for more than 60% of global EV sales in 2023.

Despite a downfall in sales in passenger and commercial vehicles seen in 2019, major automotive manufacturing nations like China, Japan, South Korea and India are maintaining their leadership in this space, driving growth through advanced technology integration and large-scale implementation.

China in particular still remains a major exporter of cars globally, says Mordor Intelligence. According to an analysis by Lin Gang, general manager of ATA CFT Guangzhou Co. Ltd. (Guangzhou, China), Chinese carbon fiber manufacturers have proven their strength in mastering already well-established material manufacturing technologies, which has enabled the country's carbon fiber to gain significant share in automotive and other applications.

HRC Group (Changshu, China) offers a clear case that highlights the increasing trend of increasing performance composites for automotive in China. HRC is meeting the transition to electrification and vehicle lightweighting via hybrid monocoques, use of thermoplastic composites (TPC), carbon fiber and rCF.

HRC's hybrid monocoque technology advances automotive lightweighting with the Yangwang U9 supercar, China's first mass-produced vehicle using carbon fiber as the main structural material. This monocoque, the largest of its kind globally, incorporates more than 110 kilograms of carbon fiber, reducing weight by 30% compared to traditional steel-aluminum structures, and achieving a lightweight coefficient of 0.95. Constructed mainly from T700 12K aerospace-grade carbon fiber, it comprises 80% of the body volume and offers high torsional stiffness of 54,425 newton-meters per degree. HRC uses more than 10 joining methods, including adhesive bonding and MIG welding, combined with smart material placement to enhance structural performance and accommodate complex vehicle designs.

The automotive industry is increasingly adopting thermoplastic composites (TPC) due to their faster processing cycles, improved recyclability and design flexibility compared to traditional thermoset materials. TPC enable high-speed automated processing, reduced cycle times and the potential for mechanical recycling at EOL, aligning with circular economy objectives while meeting high-volume production requirements.

Röchling Automotive (Mannheim, Germany) and Envalior (Düsseldorf, Germany) have showcased the potential of TPC in lightweighting automotive components, working together to create a new composite roof crossmember for the Mercedes CLE convertible, replacing more traditionally used magnesium.

The Mercedes crossmember is a complex shape with high load service requirements. Röchling's hybrid molding technology combines forming fiber-reinforced TPC with injection molding in a single tool. The primary material is a continuous glass fiber-reinforced Tepex dynalite 102-RG600 from Envalior which provides strength and reinforcement at the part's front edge. Envalior's Durethan BKV50H2.0, a PA6 plastic reinforced with 50% glass fibers, is used for the injection molding process.

The final design weighs 700 grams less than the previous magnesium version and cuts the number of parts by half. The TPC design also enables a closed bottom and better integration with the roof liner and A-pillars, leading to a consistent look inside the car and better overall strength.

In the realm of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes, Porsche Engineering's (Weissach, Germany) TABASKO (tape-based carbon-fiber lightweight construction) method represents a new approach to TPC processing optimization through strategic material placement. The patented process creates composite components using carbon fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) tapes positioned to achieve maximum strength and minimum weight in series production applications.

The method addresses cost and performance optimization for automotive production requirements. Currently, many Porsche vehicle components are made of glass fiber-reinforced PP (PP-GFx), with TABASKO enabling reinforcement of PP with strategically placed carbon fiber tapes, using less material and achieving thinner walls without sacrificing rigidity. The approach increases rigidity compared to PP-GFx by a factor of 20 through carbon fiber filaments running lengthwise without interruption.

TPC recycling infrastructure has also recently been on the rise, enabling a circular material economy where components can be repeatedly recycled without property degradation.

For Spanish startup Liux (Alicante, Spain), recycling TPC is key to its car manufacturing strategy. The company's first vehicle, the EV BIG, uses parts like doors, fenders, bumpers, tailgate and even the battery enclosure made from Saertex (Saerbeck, Germany) biaxial flax fabric infused with EzCiclo RH512 resin from Swancor (Nantou, Taiwan). At EOL, the vehicle will be disassembled and components sent to Swancor's recycling facilities in Taiwan and China, with a third opening in Romania this year. The recycling process cuts parts into smaller pieces, places them in the recycling vessel and uses Swancor's CleaVER liquid at 150°C for 4 hours, separating fiber and resin. The CleaVER solvent is reusable for multiple batches and generates no waste liquid or exhaust.

A recently launched project that focuses on developing TPC based on recycled materials for automotive applications, called the FIBIAS++ project, is being led by The French Institute for Technological Research (IRT Jules Verne, Bouguenais, France) with partners Compositec (formerly Faurecia Composites), Stellantis (Hoofddorp, Netherlands), IMT Nord Europe (Douai, France) and moldmaker CMO (Constructions Métalliques de L'Ouest, Normandy, France). The project targets composites such as organosheets, glass mat-reinforced thermoplastics (GMT) and sandwich structures, with the major challenge being incorporation of recycled materials such as PET while maintaining performance for semi-structural and structural automotive applications.

The project's processing innovation centers on post-consumer and post-industrial waste integration. IMT Nord Europe has examined crushed plastic bottles for the manufacture of PET films, with these recycled materials then incorporated into TPC products or semi-finished products. The organization assessed the effects of the shredding process on material performance to maintain optimum mechanical properties throughout the recycling cycle.

Aside from TPC, the development of bio-based alternatives to carbon or glass fiber reinforcement is often considered to be a compromise when it comes to the performance of the components from which they are made. However, BAMD Composites (Oxfordshire, U.K.) and Ariel Motor Co. (Somerset, U.K.) have teamed up to create the E-Nomad concept's bodywork, which uses sustainable fiber technology to improve both performance and eco-friendliness in the partners' cars.

The E-Nomad's bodywork is made from a natural fiber-reinforced biocomposite, resulting in a 9% weight reduction compared to CFRP and it cuts CO emissions during production by 73%. BAMD's manufacturing uses Ru-bix (King's Lynn, U.K.) Halo-S tooling material, which saves more than 5,000 kilograms of CO during tool production -- more than 50% compared to traditional molding techniques.

The reinforcement fiber is made using northern European flax fibers from SHD Composites (Lincolnshire, U.K.) in a prepreg form. Further reinforcement is provided by Bcomp's (Fribourg, Switzerland) powerRibs large-format natural fiber reinforcement grid that draws inspiration from leaf veins, adding more strength and reducing weight. Both the tools and the bodywork can be recycled after their use, supporting a circular economy.

BMW Group (Munich, Germany) recently adopted Bcomp's natural fiber materials for series production representing a significant milestone in bio-based material commercialization. The partnership demonstrates progression from motorsport validation to production implementation, with high-performance natural fiber materials to be used extensively in both exterior and interior components of future BMW Group production cars. These characteristics support a full range of sustainable design possibilities using woven and nonwoven natural fibers to fit brand language requirements.

EV proliferation is creating entirely new composite application categories focused on weight reduction, battery thermal management and impact protection. Composite materials are especially important for weight reduction in EVs as manufacturers look to tackle the weight of battery packs, which can add between 450 and 1,000 pounds (about 200 to 450 kilograms) to a vehicle's total weight. As such, new EVs often use more composite materials than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to balance battery weight with driving range and efficiency. Composite applications here range from small material swaps around the car to primary chassis construction material.

The EV battery enclosure market has significant potential, with composite materials here reducing weight by up to 40% compared to aluminum ones according to IDTechEx (Cambridge, U.K.) research. The battery enclosure market, which includes battery pack lids, trays, protection plates, module separators and thermal management components, is expected to grow at a rate of 23.5% per year, reaching $5.0 billion by 2030.

As an example, Autoneum (Winterthur, Switzerland) has created lightweight TPC impact protection plates to shield EV batteries from impacts, fire and corrosion. These TPC also help save energy by providing thermal insulation, which can extend the vehicle's driving range.

The impact protection plate uses long-fiber thermoplastics (LFT) -- long glass fibers reinforced with a PP matrix, with more than 60% fiber weight. This material combination offers design flexibility and a production process that generates no waste. The fiber length distribution in Autoneum's LFT parts enable high mechanical strength, impact resistance and effective load transfer, providing improvements compared to traditional short fiber thermoplastic composites and incumbent metal solutions.

Thermal management is a key factor when it comes to EV battery performance and efficiency. The thermal conductivity of Autoneum's material is around 0.3 watts per meter-kelvin, which is much lower than aluminum's 200 watts per meter-kelvin. This significant improvement in insulation helps with several vehicle benefits, including slower cooling for battery packs in cold weather and lower energy use while driving. Optimized insulation also directly helps extend the driving range by reducing the energy needed for thermal management. The weight savings of 10% or more compared to metal parts further showcases the benefits of LFT construction.

Other approaches to battery enclosure technology include that from automotive Tier 1 supplier Kautex Textron (Bonn, Germany) and its Pentatonic Battery Enclosures incorporating TPC battery cell holders with integrated two-phase immersion cooling capabilities. The system enables high heat transfer rates while maximizing temperature homogeneity within the battery pack at desired operating temperatures. Here, the battery itself functions as an evaporator in a refrigeration process, enabling heat loads at high charging rates to be safely and permanently managed by the battery thermal system.

The technical innovation combines thermoplastic composite engineering through collaboration with Siebenwurst GmbH & Co. (Altmühl, Germany), Akro-Plastic GmbH (Niederzissen, Germany), Envalior and Engel (Schwertberg, Austria).

In another battery enclosure format, Trinseo Netherlands' B.V. (Terneuzen, The Netherlands) direct long fiber thermoplastics (DLFT) process combined with polycarbonate (PC) provides EV battery pack protection. The DLFT process combines compounding and molding in a single step, increasing energy and production efficiency while producing strong, lightweight, impact-resistant composite parts. The integration of PC with continuous glass or carbon fiber reinforcement leverages PC's performance characteristics including high strength and toughness, durability, fire resistance and recyclability.

Several innovative approaches in composite wheel manufacturing are setting the stage for scalable production and OEM integration in 2025. Dymag Technologies Ltd. (Wiltshire, U.K.), a subsidiary of Borbet GmbH (Hallenberg-Hesborn, Germany), has teamed up with Advanced International Multitech Co. Ltd. (AIM, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan) to establish advanced capabilities for producing carbon fiber hybrid wheels. This collaboration leverages Dymag's expertise in carbon fiber wheel technology, Borbet's premium aluminum wheel production skills and AIM's robust manufacturing infrastructure, positioning AIM as Taiwan's largest producer of carbon fiber composite products for both OEM and aftermarket applications.

In another composite wheel application, Carbon Revolution plc's (Geelong, Australia) integration into Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR, Coventry, U.K.) Range Rover Sport SV Edition Two demonstrates validated production-scale implementation of composite wheel technology. The 23-inch single-piece composite wheels contribute to 167.6 pounds of vehicle weight savings when fitted with all lightweight options compared to Range Rover Sport P530 in nearest equivalent specification. The manufacturing approach uses Carbon Revolution's Mega-line production capabilities with patent-pending Diamond Weave technology.

The implementation of composite materials for automotive body panel applications has also been evolving at a rapid pace and now demonstrates sophisticated processing technologies addressing weight reduction, design flexibility and production efficiency requirements across passenger vehicles, commercial trucks and mass transit systems.

Ascorium Industries' (Königswinter, Germany) CompoLite technology is an example of this, demonstrating integrated sandwich panel manufacturing for automotive body applications through semi-automated processing combining spray-up and compression molding techniques. The process begins with robotic spray-up of Colo-Fast polyurethane (PUR) approximately 1 millimeter thick to create a colored, UV-stable Class A surface, followed by Aro-Fast aromatic-based PUR with blowing agent introduction to create cellular foam structure during manufacturing.

A BMW 8 series convertible trunk lid demonstrates the technology's capabilities, featuring custom stitching imprinted on the Class A surface with various inserts integrated during molding through liquid PUR forming around components during layup and curing. The part showcases aesthetic quality while demonstrating production integration efficiency through single-process manufacture.

In Slate Auto's (Troy, Mich., U.S.) electric pickup truck case, polypropylene composite body panel implementation achieves cost-effective vehicle manufacturing using highly dent-resistant composite body panels attached to high-strength steel chassis frames. The PP composite construction provides durability and reliability advantages while enabling customization capabilities.

Core molding technology improves composite part production by addressing design limitations, enabling hollow structures and enhancing efficiency. Alia Mentis' (Montebelluna, Italy) Koridion active core molding technology demonstrates new approaches to CFRP manufacturing through expandable core materials that apply equalized pressure during molding while simultaneously forming integrated stiffeners. After placing prepreg and preshaped Koridion core inside compression molds, curing activates material expansion to apply up to 12 bar of equalized pressure throughout the cavity, moving fibers into desired position against the mold while forming reinforcement in a single step.

The material's chemical formulation is tailored to match the viscoelastic behavior of resins to produce required pressure and compaction at optimal timing, accommodating typical resins that cure in 1 hour at 130°C or snap-cure resins processed at 230°C and cured in minutes. This customization enables 30-40% reduction in CFRP layers while maintaining structural performance, resulting in significant material, labor and energy savings.

Integration with Corebon (Malmo, Sweden) induction heating technology through Koridion's K1 process system achieves 90% energy consumption reduction compared to conventional CFRP processes, with cycle times reduced to 8 minutes for complex parts like automotive hoods featuring integral air ducts and Class A surface finishes.

The automotive composites sector continuing into 2025 is characterized by a dynamic interplay of business considerations, material performance, cost and sustainability imperatives. The proliferation of EVs is intensifying the demand for lightweight materials, particularly in battery construction, where composites can achieve substantial weight reductions compared to traditional metals. Concurrently, advancements in automated production techniques are focusing on high-performance applications, while innovations in recycling technologies are addressing EOL material waste effectively.

Global market dynamics are in flux, with fluctuations in the demand for composite materials and an uptick in strategic acquisitions. The automotive landscape of 2025 suggests that composites will see broader integration across diverse vehicle architectures. However, the pace of adoption will largely hinge on ongoing improvements in manufacturing efficiencies and efforts to reduce material costs, making composites more viable for wider market applications.