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The European automotive industry has recovered strongly since the worldwide recession of late 2008 and 2009. Fortunately the process of innovation was only briefly interrupted by the recession, and suppliers, technologists and materials companies have been able to maintain the all-important flow of new development that car makers rely upon.

Car companies are on the lightweighting trail, and innovative suppliers are pointing out a new direction to them. As well as the established trend for plastics to replace metal in car interiors, exteriors and engineering components, plastics are now finding their way into load bearing structures, including the car chassis.

UK company Inrekor has developed light weight sandwich panels which have an aluminium skin and an Arpro EPP core from JSP, which will be used in the chassis of the Ecomove Qbeak electric vehicle. Inrekor has launched itself into an increasingly competitive market, in which other sandwich technologies and CFRP composites are also making rapid progress.

A key issue for all companies promoting lightweight structures for volume car production is the need to meet demands of scale, cycle time and cost. Inrekor believes it can beat CFRP on these points.

Exhibitors at the IAA fair in Frankfurt last year showed lightweight technologies in applications ranging from doors and seatbacks through to engineering parts. When it comes to the chassis, though, car makers are understandably cautious. This is a safety critical area and no-one wants a catastrophic product failure.

But the caution of the car industry in this area is also connected with the large-scale investment it has tied up in huge metal stamping plants. It is not an easy decision to lay that equipment to one side.

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