Changshu Automotive Interiors Expands to Spain with Smart Cockpit Layout, Spotlight on Key Applications of Plastic Materials

Special Plastic Vision, August 4 – Changshu Automotive Trim announced over the weekend that, based on strategic planning and the needs of overseas business development,To establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, "Changshu Automotive Trim (Spain) Intelligent Cockpit Co., Ltd.," with an investment of 24 million euros through its Luxembourg company in the Zaragoza region of Spain.The new company's business scope includes the production, sales, and trade of automotive smart cabins and related components. This investment aims to serve international clients, expand into overseas markets, and enhance competitiveness in the European market. However, the investment is still subject to overseas investment filing, and the new company faces various risks, with uncertainties in its future development.

Source: Company Announcement

As cars evolve into "mobile third living spaces," smart cockpits have become key, and automotive seats are also ushering in new development opportunities. The upstream supply chain includes key components such as seat slides and motors. Over 90% of the global seat market share is occupied by foreign enterprises, but with technological advancements, the rate of domestic production is continuously increasing. Under the trends of "intelligence, lightweight, personalization, and safety," local seat-related enterprises in China are facing opportunities, and the materials sector is also presenting four major development opportunities. As a vertical information service platform in the plastics industry, Zhuan Su Shi Jie has conducted an in-depth inventory on these developments.

Intelligentization: Optical Materials Lay the Foundation for Interaction

With the advancement of automotive intelligence, multimodal interaction has become a focal point, integrating multiple senses. In the future, automobiles will also support VR, AR, and holographic projection functions. This brings new possibilities for car seat design and requires a large amount of high-performance optical materials. For example, Yanfeng’s smart seats integrate touch screens, and the Tangqun Type X 2.0 intelligent seat system employs physiological detection technology. All these intelligent devices rely on high-performance optical materials. New types of optical film materials are constantly emerging, and high-performance polarizing films, among others, meet the demand for high-quality display effects in seat touch screens. At the same time, freeform surfaces, as key optical components, are gaining importance.Mainly using PC, COC, and glass materials, with optical PC materials currently being the most commonly used.。

Lightweight: The Opportunity for Lightweight Materials Has Arrived

Under the global "dual carbon" goals, new energy vehicles have become the development direction. Car seats account for a certain weight among the components, and their proportion may increase in the future. Covestro utilizes...Thermoplastic compositesCreating a lightweight seat back for GAC Group's electric concept car, reducing weight by up to 50% and being recyclable. Dow's POE-based synthetic leather solution enables the vehicle.The weight of the seat compared to PVC leatherReduce by 25-40%. The safety belt buckle housing of the Audi Q8 e-tron model is made from mixed automotive plastic waste, reflecting the concept of environmental protection.Lightweight metal materials can also achieve seat weight reduction.Lear's lightweight front seat frame adopts a lightweight design, weighing 10% less than the market average. The seat reduces weight through non-metal materials, primarily in components such as the backboard and surface, reflecting the concepts of lightweight design and carbon reduction for environmental protection.

Personalization: Textured materials are favored

As the cabin becomes an "intelligent third living space," personalization becomes a growth trend for seats. In the future, car seats and interiors will be more customized and personalized, with automotive personalized seats tending to use lighter, more breathable, and safer materials, while the use of leather seats will gradually decrease. Cars and homes will share many of the same materials.Johnson Controls Automotive uses feather-light carbon fiber, Renault creates custom fabric Bloko.Specialized Vision has discovered that Cupra, also a Spanish car manufacturer, has used Bcomp in its new bucket seats.Natural fiber compositesSolutions to replace seat backs made of carbon fiber and glass fiber. Meanwhile, seats will support more scenario experiences, and seat arrangements will become more flexible in the future. Current seat rail materials include cast iron and steel plates, and plastic has potential for development in the field of seat rails in the future. The main materials for seat recliners are currently PBT/ABS, and the introduction of new materials is expected to bring new changes.

Safety: Expansion of High-Performance Plastics Applications

Under the trends of intelligence, lightweight, and personalization, ensuring the safety of seats has become a challenge. In the future, seats will become part of passenger protection, linked with the vehicle's active safety systems, and some car seats have integrated multiple safety technologies. Currently,The main raw materials for airbags in the industry are PA66 and PET polyester.The addition of seat cushion airbags and headrest airbags provides more opportunities for related airbag plastics.

The establishment of an intelligent cockpit subsidiary by Changshu Automotive Trim in Spain is an important step in its overseas expansion. The development of intelligent cockpits has opened up a vast market space for plastic materials. From the optical materials required for intelligence to various plastic applications in terms of lightweight, personalization, and safety, there is significant potential for growth. However, relevant companies also need to pay attention to market changes and technological innovations to address various challenges and secure a position in the field of plastic materials for intelligent cockpits.