Integrated report 2021 - reinventing inventing

What are the market trends shaping your business?

The car’s center of gravity is shifting, with the focus partly moving to software and design. We used to be assemblers but our role has evolved toward integrating innovative functions and giving free rein to each vehicle’s design. We are systems specialists integrating radar, lidar and lighting into high added-value exterior components. To help us manage this increasingly complex task, we work with partners to put together the technological building blocks. One example is Greenerwave, a startup with expertise in electromagnetic waves. We are working with them to perfect a next-generation 4D radar. Lighting, a key element of vehicle design, offers another opportunity for growth, with automakers keen on dynamic lighting signatures that make their products stand out.

What impact has the shift to electric vehicles had on your business?

Electric vehicles currently account for 30% of our activity, with a number of outstanding successes among newcomers such as China’s Nio and American’s Lucid, voted Car of the Year in the USA. We've been closely involved with designing this new vehicle's look. Newcomers, pure players in the electric vehicle market, have tremendous freedom in terms of design, for vehicle lighting. We turn to our in-house design office at the ∑-Sigmatech R&D center when dealing with our customers’ questions about design and the use of recycled materials.

How does your activity help promote cleaner mobility?

We create plastic parts that make vehicles lighter and optimize their aerodynamic performance. A vehicle’s weight is the determining factor in its CO₂ emissions. Our massive use of plastic in bumpers means the Group is helping to reduce fuel consumption. We are currently seeing a move from metal to plastic that is further boosting this trend. We also use plastic in other parts of the vehicle. One example is the tailgates we manufacture for Ford’s electric Mustang. Using plastic can reduce the weight of a tailgate by 30%, which in turn helps to increase the range of electric vehicles. 

How do the solutions developed by the Group contribute to carbon neutrality?

Plastic is perfectly suited to the transformation underway in the automotive industry because it lets light and electromagnetic waves through. To make these materials more environmentally friendly, we’re running research projects so that we can increase the proportion of recycled materials used, particularly in bumpers. As a demonstrator, we’ve designed a concept bumper made from 50% recycled materials. To take these ideas to the next level, Plastic Omnium and TotalEnergies have teamed up to develop recycled polypropylene materials that will meet the demanding standards required for automotive bodywork. The future of the automotive industry necessarily involves recycled plastic, driven by ever tighter regulatory standards.