LyondellBasell to showcase new automotive plastics at German conference

LyondelllBasell Industries has lined up a host of new advanced polypropylene (PP) compounds to be displayed at the Plastics in Automotive Engineering technical conference in Mannheim, Germany.

The conference is being organised by the Association of German Engineers (VDI) on 17-18 March.

LyondelllBasell will exhibit PP products with improved soft-touch characteristics and aesthetics for use in automotive interiors, a company release said today.

Prominent among these is the company's new Softell PP compounds, which has been selected by Opel to manufacture a variety of interior applications such as the instrument panel, the B and C pillars and the door panel of its recently launched new Opel Astra model.

"The new resins enable the production of interiors with exceptional surface aesthetics and soft-touch qualities without the use of coatings," the company said in its release. Softell compounds offer processing advantages that have the potential to result in cost savings, it added.

"By eliminating coating requirements, we've significantly improved the recycling potential of the applications," said Michael Pohl, automotive business development manager for LyondellBasell in Europe.