The company behind Mercedes-Benz and Smart, Daimler AG, has formed a joint venture with Toray Industries to manufacture and market carbon fibre reinforced plastic car parts.
The name of the joint venture is yet to be determined but Toray will hold a 50.1 per cent stake in the company, Daimler a 44.9 per cent stake, while others will hold the remaining five per cent.
Toray has been working on optimal carbon fibre intermediate materials since signing a joint development agreement in March last year with Daimler taking responsibility for designing parts and developing technologies to join the parts. Together they have developed a technology called short cycle resin transfer moulding which offers a notably shorter moulding cycle.
Already the largest manufacturer of carbon fibres in the world, Toray established an Automotive Centre three years ago as a development base for automotive applications, as well as the Advanced Composite Centre, two years ago, which is a centre for developing technology and applications for carbon fibre products.
The use of carbon fibre is seen as a positive way to boost fuel efficiency by reducing the weight of a vehicle; and the movement towards carbon fibre is expected to gather momentum with increased emphasis on greener technologies.
