Switzerland-based composite materials group Gurit Holding AG has been selected as the supplier for carbon fiber based automotive body panels at a value of more than 30 million Swiss francs ($34.4 million), calculated on a multi-annual basis.
The new project is set to start in the fourth quarter of 2015, and the company states that it involves industrial production of exterior Class A carbon body panel parts, utilizing both Gurit's existing open mold manual and its new proprietary and patented advanced press technology.
The new hot compression molding technology “significantly reduces curing time, thus enabling efficient industrial production of small-scale series which are fully compatible with [carmakers] mass production and assembly methods,” the Zurich-based company said in a news release.
Gurit states it has been supplying carbon fibre based Class-A car body panels to leading OEMs since 2007.