Borealis delivers bumper material to Europe’s “Car of the Year” Opel Insignia

From superb aesthetics to raised productivity, Daplen™ thermoplastic olefin (TPO) from Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, is delivering a bumper package of benefits to the 2009 European "Car of the Year" Opel Insignia. Borealis' advanced polypropylene (PP) compounds were selected for the Insignia's bumper fascias, covers and grilles because of their ability to meet the ergonomic, eye-catching design and high-level performance and safety criteria specified for General Motor's flagship," next generation" mid-sized car, based on its Epsilon II platform.

Opel's strategy of making advanced technology affordable to more customers was reflected in the material specifications for the exterior vehicle parts. No compromise performance requirements for highest surface quality, excellent impact/stiffness ratio and narrowest gap tolerance were supplemented by Tier One supplier Decoma International's requirements to boost production efficiency and lower scrap rates.

The three Borealis Daplen grades chosen for the individual parts allowed Decoma to achieve its targets through low development costs, low moulding cycle times and low scrap rates. Excellent paint adherence using a more efficient 2-layer painting system, in combination with high flowability for easy processing with consistent quality, added to Decoma's ability to raise production speed and reduce costs without affecting part quality.

To create the high-level surface aesthetics demanded by Opel, Daplen grades with outstanding UV stability were used. Their very low Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion (CLTE) values, particularly of Daplen EE109AE used for the painted bumper fascias, helped Decoma to achieve precise-fitted finished parts with the narrowest gap tolerances to further enhance overall appearance.

Opel designed the Insignia to be one of the safest cars on the road. The excellent dimensional stability and stiffness/impact ratio of the Daplen-based bumpers and grilles supports Opel in fulfilling its safety performance specifications, contributing to the Insignia's Euro NCAP ratings - the best yet in the large family car segment.

The new Opel Insignia is the second "Car of the Year" winner to feature Borealis materials. Borealis was a key material supplier for selected parts on the "Car of the Year 2008", the Fiat 500.

"Borealis is proud to once again have its materials used on award-winning vehicles that are leading the way with their design, functionality and performance," comments Franz Zдngerl, Manager Business Development Automotive at Borealis. "Our commitment to working closely with the industry's Tier Ones and OEMs ensures we focus our innovations where they can add the most value. Be this by delivering production-efficiency, safety-related or particular aesthetic features, we support companies' efforts to meet their specific challenges while achieving industry requirements for more environmentally-friendly vehicles and manufacturing processes."