Growing share of IP skin market seen for TPOs & slush molding. (In Brief: Your Business).

Consulting firm Robert Eller Associates in Akron, Ohio, predicts major shifts in materials choices and processing methods for auto instrument panels across the globe. Thermoformed PVC/ABS skins will keep losing ground to thermoformed TPO as well as slush-molded TPO, PVC, and TPU and spray-on urethane coatings, according to Robert Eller, president. He estimates that 36% of North American cars had PVC/ABS skins in 2002, down from 50% five years ago. "Demand for accurate and uniform grain retention and the emergence of IPs having sharper angles have favored alternatives to ABS/PVC," Eller says.

Nevertheless, slush molding of flexible PVC skins may oppose the general trend away from PVC in the next few years. Adoption of "invisible" airbag covers and tougher requirements for low-temperature airbag deployment favor PVC slush molding and other alternatives to formed PVC/ABS, Eller says. Audi recently developed a mechanical method for producing slush-molded PVC skins that allows them to break more cleanly for easier airbag deployment, Eller says.

He also sees a growing role for TPO skins. Three emerging technologies are likely to support that shift, one being negative-skin vacuum forming--developed by Visteon Corp. of Dearborn, Mich. --that improves grain retention of TPO skins. In addition, Benecke-Kalico in Hannover, Germany, has developed a method for radiation cross-linking of TPO skins to enhance their grain retention and strength. Finally, slush molded TPO skins have emerged in Japan and will appear in the U.S. on some 2003 models.

Another projected winner is spray-on PUR skins made with technology developed by Recticel North America, Inc., Auburn Hills, Mich. Eller foresees big gains for this approach in the next five years in the U.S. and Europe due to its ability to deliver excellent grain retention and accommodate sharper angles in IP design.