SABIC Innovative Plastics' New Anti-Static and Low-Gloss/No-Paint Solutions Add Stylish High Quality to Automotive Interiors
MANNHEIM, Germany - SABIC Innovative Plastics launched here today at the VDI conference (booth #74) two new specialty materials that make creating and maintaining high-quality, attractive automotive interiors much easier. The first new product is a Cycolac* acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene/polycarbonate (ABS/PC) resin for elegant, low-gloss parts that eliminates the costs, wear problems and environmental downsides of secondary painting. The second innovation is a Geloy* polycarbonate/acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (PC/ASA) resin that provides permanent anti-static performance for a fresh, clean appearance of interior parts. The new Cycolac and Geloy resin materials - along with other high-tech thermoplastic resins and glazing in SABIC Innovative Plastics' robust and growing portfolio of automotive materials - are on display at its booth, showcasing the company's focus on driving next-generation breakthroughs to help global automotive customers enhance vehicle performance and consumer appeal.
"Consumers may choose a vehicle for its exterior design but it's the interior that they live with - and in - every day," said V. Umamaheswaran (UV), director of automotive products and marketing, SABIC Innovative Plastics. "Our new Cycolac and Geloy resins help our customers provide consumers with a wide choice of superior aesthetics while addressing the issues of interior wear and tear. These materials can make a huge difference vs. competitive products in sustaining customer satisfaction long after that new car excitement has worn off."
Low-gloss Cycolac Compound Imparts Elegance
The new Cycolac DL100LG compound is intended to be the ideal material for automotive OEMs and tiers that are looking for a low-gloss material offering the cost-out and environmental benefits of a no-paint approach. This product delivers the desired aesthetics and perceived higher quality of a low-gloss appearance across a wide range of grains and colors, including custom colors, and can be combined with various tool surface treatments.
The product also reduces manufacturing costs and the environmental impact of volatile emissions by eliminating the painting process.
Cycolac DL100LG compound combines high-quality appearance with excellent material properties including dimensional stability and heat and impact resistance. Potential applications include trim components, door entry steps and consoles. SABIC Innovative Plastics is also exhibiting a steering column cover molded from this new Cycolac compound at its booth.
Anti-static Geloy Compound Fights Dust
Providing permanent anti-static properties, Geloy HRA170D compound is designed to help automotive interiors keep that factory-fresh appearance over years of use. Compared to conventional materials that tend to attract dust, this new Geloy compound repels dust. Instead of using a slipping agent, the SABIC Innovative Plastics product uses an additive to ensure anti-dust performance with a surface resistivity of 1012 Ohm.
Since color pigment loading can have a big influence on anti-static properties, SABIC Innovative Plastics offers Geloy HRA170D compound in a wide range of colors. This spares molders from having to add colorants and helps to achieve the best possible anti-static performance. Target applications include trims, interior mirror housings and overhead consoles. The new Geloy HRA170D compound is based on Geloy HRA170 compound, which has been used successfully for automotive interior trim components for several years with leading OEMs.
For additional information on SABIC Innovative Plastics' high performance materials for the automotive industry, please go to www.sabic-ip.com. For technical product inquiries, please contact us at www.sabic-ip.com/prtechinquiry.
About SABIC Innovative Plastics
SABIC Innovative Plastics is a leading, global supplier of engineering thermoplastics with a 75-year history of breakthrough solutions that solve its customers' most pressing challenges. Today, SABIC Innovative Plastics is a multi-billion-dollar company with operations in more than 35 countries and approximately 9,000 employees worldwide. The company continues to lead the plastics industry with customer collaboration and continued investments in new polymer technologies, global application development, process technologies, and environmentally responsible solutions that serve diverse markets such as automotive, electronics, building & construction, transportation, and healthcare. The company's extensive product portfolio includes thermoplastic resins, coatings, specialty compounds, film, and sheet. SABIC Innovative Plastics (www.sabic-ip.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).
About Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies, and is a global leader in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers. SABIC manufactures with a global footprint in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with 33,000 employees worldwide. It has significant research resources with 18 dedicated Technology & Innovation facilities in Saudi Arabia, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, India and China. SABIC recorded a net income of SR 21.59 billion (US$5.73 billion) in 2010, and sales revenues totaled SR 152 billion (US$40.5 billion).
* Trademarks of SABIC Innovative Plastics IP B.V.
SABIC Innovative Plastics Media Contacts
Global
David Cameron
SABIC Innovative Plastics,
Automotive
Pittsfield, Mass., U.S.A.
Tel: +1 248 926 4219
E-Mail: david.cameron@sabic-ip.com
* Trademarks of SABIC Innovative Plastics IP B.V.
