Automotive 
Auto supplier Plastic Omnium says reducing its cost base by 21% during the recession has helped boost revenues and profit during the first half of the year. For the six months ending 30 June, revenue increased 28.5% to €1.5bn, while profits went up nine-fold to €72.3m
23 July 2010
Ford Forschungszentrum says it is close to using polypropylene reinforced with 30% sisal fibres for injection moulding. Ford's Maira Magnani was speaking at Kassel University's 8th Global WPC and Natural Fibre Composites congress and exhibition last month, held for the first time in Stuttgart-Fellbach.
21 July 2010
Borealis has formed a business unit targeting automotive Tier One and OEM customers in the global automotive industry
16 July 2010
The latest version of Bugatti’s record-breaking supercar – the 407km/n Veyron – is equipped with a high performance polycarbonate panorama roof. It is the first car to use the latest IR-absorbing polymer technology from BMS.
16 July 2010
Global technology company 3M plans to expand its production capacity in Poland with a project to invest more than €15m in a new plant manufacturing a range of automotive components including parts for filters and catalysts
15 July 2010
Vehicle production in Europe is picking up, compared with the low levels of 2009, according to ACEA, the federation of European vehicle makers
15 July 2010
Renault's new Wind convertible uses a lightweight composite folding roof by Webasto-Edscha that slashes system weight by more than half compared with some of the car maker's earlier designs. Aside from saving fuel the novel folding arrangement also means more space for luggage.
14 July 2010
Local media reports link car maker Nissan and parts supplier Magna International to a plastics parts manufacturing investment with Russian automotive giant Avtovaz.
12 July 2010
BMW has started to lift the veil off its future carbon-fibre electric car, the Megacity Vehicle, which will launch what the carmaker calls the first “volume-produced vehicle” with a passenger cell made from the composite
6 July 2010
Renault is the latest to show an electric car designed to appeal to the driver with sporty - as well as environmentally-friendly - intentions. Its striking DeZir two-seater electric concept features a Kevlar reinforced body to keep weight down to just 830kg.
5 July 2010
Sibur has signed an agreement to deliver up to 26 different component lines to Russian vehicle maker Sollers from 2011.
2 July 2010
BMW is the automaker that suppliers in Europe most want to do business with, a new survey shows. The company rose to No. 1 from fifth in attractiveness as a partner for parts makers in the sixth annual Automotive News Europe/SupplierBusiness OEM-Supplier Relations Study
30 June 2010
Ford Motor will use a soybean urethane foam blend in the seats for the next generation of its Explorer sport utility vehicle, which hits the roads later this year, and claims it will use soy in “nearly 100%” of its vehicle fleet by the end of 2010
24 June 2010
The Think electric car company says it will turn a profit in 2011.
21 June 2010
The French company plans to buy out Solvay’s half share in the 10-year old Inergy Automotive Systems joint venture
18 June 2010
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