BASF Corp. (Booth 2903) wants to get inside automakers' heads - and inside their vehicles - with new grades of thermoplastic polyurethane for the North American auto market.
An aliphatic grade of the Florham Park, N.J.-based firm's Elastollan-brand TPU is giving it entry into auto interiors for the first time, according to sales and marketing representative Jeff DeGross. Improved light stability and the elimination of plasticizers has allowed the material ``to get its foot in the door,'' DeGross said.
The aliphatic grade is produced at BASF sites in Germany and already has been commercialized on a cup holder overmolding on the 2006 Audi A6.
``We need to get [automakers] to believe that TPU is usable on their product,'' DeGross said. ``With customers being such a big driver, a lot of auto companies and OEMs are trying to differentiate via interiors.''
Also, a slush-molding grade of aliphatic TPU is now available in North America. It can be used in instrument panel skins and has a scrap rate of less than 4 percent, which DeGross said is less than half the scrap rate of competing materials. The new grade already is in use on IP skins on the 2006 Land Rover Discovery.
Elsewhere at BASF, the firm is seeing strong results from its PlasticsPlus program, which is a new marketing and service model for specialty styrenics products such as acrylonitrile styrene acrylate and Ecoflex-brand biodegradable resin.
Styrenic copolymers business manager Sharon Clemons said the firm has been able to share knowledge worldwide in a smoother fashion since PlasticsPlus was initiated in Europe late last year and in North America earlier this year.
``With the market getting more complex, we have to take a look at whole-system costs,'' Clemons said. ``And being able to share that knowledge and experience worldwide definitely helps.
``These are not commodity products, so we have to work with our partners very closely.''
The program already has helped BASF to grow ASA into such markets as construction cap stock, decking and railing. The firm also is using the program for development work on a wood-filled ASA substrate.
Earlier this year, BASF completed an expansion project that doubled capacity for its Ultrason-brand polysulfone and polyethersulfone resins at a plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The material is seeing strong growth in electrical, automotive and consumer goods both in Europe and North America, officials said.
BASF Corp. is a unit of BASF AG, the global chemical giant based in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Plastics was BASF AG's single largest unit in 2005, bringing in 11.7 billion euros ($14.7 billion) - about 27 percent of the firm's sales total. The North American region also contributed about 22 percent of overall sales in 2005.