Exterior: Looking good, feeling strong
For automotive exterior applications, look and feel are both very important. From rearview mirrors to door handles, aesthetics need to be good and the component needs to be pleasant to the touch. The critical requirement therefore is to use materials that are highly UV resistant or can stand up to rigorous paint and coating processes… therefore thermoplastics.
Any material you choose for exterior applications needs to have good surface quality, be it painted or unpainted. Our material solutions - in both polyesters and polyamides – provide this key feature.
In door handle systems that means high UV stability when unpainted; and smoothness and adhesion when painted. Our Akulon® family of polyamide 6 thermoplastics address both these needs…and more.
In outdoor rearview mirrors you need to use materials that offer similar aesthetic benefits, as well as offering the combination of stiffness and strength needed for what is ultimately an important contributor to safety – that is, the need to see where others are going…
