Boosted by the need for lighter weight, more sustainable materials, nonwovens continue to increase their role in cars worldwide.
The role of nonwovens in automotives continues to grow as car designers look for lighter weight options that have a sustainability story and offer increased comfort and reduced noise to drivers and passengers. Even as the automotives market faces a global slowdown, which has been particularly hard felt in Asia, suppliers of nonwovens to automotive companies remain optimistic that their products will continue to grow in this market.
Due to the fact that we always aim to offer new and innovative products, we have seen growth in automotive markets in the last years. We expect that the situation will get more complex over the next years. New challenges for vehicle producers arise. Hybrid or completely electronic vehicles need new or other solutions than combusting engines.
Growth has also been driven by the increasing role of nonwovens in the automotives. Due their versatility, nonwovens are being used in more applications where they replace other materials, often in a sustainable way. Nonwovens can combine different properties, for example a good sound absorber can be a good thermal insulator as well. Nonwovens can be produced from up to 100% recycled raw materials without chemical agents.
A huge amount of diversified nonwovens are offered to the automotives industry, produced with different technologies. They are used in different applications and areas, like sound absorbing materials for the interior and exterior, and also as the basis for molded and self-supporting parts like wheel arch liners, underbody shields or headliners. Other products are used as filter media for cabin air filter elements or fuel filters.
Nonwovens can be versatile, like flat sheets as e.g. sound absorbing pads but also as two-dimensional die cut part or as a 3D molded part combining different properties in one product. With a focus on sustainability, eco-friendliness, and for a safe environment.
