Carbon fiber finds a place at Detroit auto show

Detroit — Automotive executives and head designers at this year's North American International Auto Show mostly talked in circles when asked about the plastic components gleaming on their recently unveiled vehicles. But there was at least one material that fell from their lips as easily as the words steel or aluminum: carbon fiber.

Cadillac executives were the first to say the words during a Jan. 13 media briefing, a day before the Detroit auto show officially opened to more than 5,000 journalists attending the press preview.

"The XT6 Sport models, like the vehicle that you see here, feature more aggressive elements such as gloss black exterior ​ details and carbon fiber interior accents," Cadillac President Steve Carlisle said during the debut of the 2020 XT6, a three-row sport utility vehicle.

The automaker also used the event to announce Cadillac as the first brand under General Motors Co. to lead its next-generation electric vehicle platform, which is expected to launch on a Cadillac crossover in 2021.

Andrew Smith, executive director of global Cadillac design, said with the new "electrical architecture," you will start seeing a "reinterpretation of the application of materials and finishes" and a "unique interplay of materials and forms."

"As we think about transitions, it's how do you make one material do interesting things and become other materials? The whole transition from one to another is something that's really intriguing to me," he said.

But Cadillac wasn't the only automaker to drape bits and pieces of vehicles in carbon fiber, whether for functional or aesthetic purposes, or both, and then call attention to it.

Ford Motor Co.'s 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500, unveiled Jan. 14, includes a carbon fiber track package with exposed 20-inch carbon fiber wheels and an adjustable, exposed carbon fiber GT4 track wing and splitter wickers.

Subaru Tecnica International Inc., the motorsports division of Japanese automaker Subaru Corp., touted a carbon fiber roof panel and rear wing on its unveiling of the limited-run STI S209 performance car.

Elsewhere, Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand used carbon fiber on its 2020 RC F Track Edition sports car, eyeing a "precise diet" rather than a wholesale replacement of the composite for traditional materials.

Dave Christ, group vice president, said carbon fiber at the front of the vehicle reduces weight while also improving grip for the front wheels, resulting in better handling. Carbon fiber is used on the roof and hood along with a partition behind the rear seats and for bumper reinforcement. In addition, a carbon fiber fixed rear wing is lighter than an active spoiler and reduces drag.

Lexus officials said the carbon fiber pieces are made on the same in-house production that turned out the Lexus LFA supercar.

With the somewhat nonchalant mentioning of carbon fiber on these vehicle debuts, is the consumer and auto media buzz for this breakthrough material starting to settle down?

Mike Siwajek, vice president of research and development at Auburn Hills-based composites supplier Continental Structural Plastics Inc., said carbon fiber still has its place, but cost is still prohibitive in large-scale, high-volume applications.

"Carbon fiber still provides a lot of value, but I think what you're seeing and what you're going to see are people are going to put it were it gives them the most bang for their buck — more value," he said during a phone interview.

The material, which on average can cost anywhere from $6-$40 per pound, can bring "extreme value" when used in the right places, Siwajek said. Vehicles mentioned earlier, like the STI S209 and RC F Track Edition, are examples of this, achieving weight savings from the strategic placement of carbon fiber.

"The high-end vehicles, they can afford to put the trim packaging on and the decorative, exposed-weave carbon fiber," he said of vehicles such as the Cadillac XT6.

Perhaps most noteworthy for carbon fiber was the March 2018 announcement of a carbon fiber pickup bed option on the 2019 GMC Sierra Denali — a first for the auto industry. The application of carbon fiber on the pickup truck was a seven-years-in-the-making project that drew on the expertise of engineers at GM and leadership at Japanese materials firm Teijin Ltd. The project was supported by Teijin-owned CSP, which will mold and manufacture the carbon fiber box at its facility in Huntington, Ind.

"The CarbonPro box is aggressive and it's taking a chance, but it's going to expose the market to carbon fiber on a bigger scale," Siwajek said. "And if it's successful, then we all win, right?"

Other suppliers to the automotive industry are also putting more focus on new applications for carbon fiber and composites in general for improved structural performance and the overall aesthetic value of the materials.

Composites industry organization JEC Group and auto supplier Magna International Inc., for example, are working on a research project with Jaguar Land Rover to determine how carbon fiber can improve performance in an electric car.

Today, the typical car has 400 pounds of composites and plastics, according to Magna. By 2030, that number is expected to double.

Composites production processes being tested at the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing in Detroit are pointing to the potential for reducing weight in auto body parts by 40-50 percent using textile carbon fiber, IACMI CEO John Hopkins said.

"We're going to be able to change and develop new [production] paradigms for partners such as Magna," he said.

Grahame Burrow, global president of Magna Exteriors, said the company has been seeing significant growth in producing composite liftgates for SUVs and CUVs because of the weight savings compared to traditional materials. SUVs are forecast to make up nearly half of the U.S. auto market this year.

"As SUVs continue to steal market share from sedans, we expect this [composite liftgate] trend will continue," he said.

In addition, Magna finished up a prototype carbon fiber composite subframe with Ford, which it said reduces mass by 34 percent compared with a stamped steel equivalent.

For CSP's Siwajek, he sees the most value for carbon fiber in these structural and more performance-based applications. Though the aesthetic parts of the material are always going to be there, he said, and the high-end market will pay for it.

"It's still sexy, right? It still generates some buzz," Siwajek said.

Carbon fiber certainly has a place in the automotive industry, he added, "it's just finding that right place and finding the right value for it."

Plastics News News editor Rhoda Miel contributed to this report.