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Automotive Technology
AUTOS: GM Plans Carbon-Fiber Future
Automaker links up with innovative Japanese company for high-volume production of the strong, lightweight material.
The high-performance Chevrolet ZO6 uses lightweight carbon fiber for its front fenders and door panels. (Photo: Chevrolet)
General Motors, planning to use more carbon fiber in its volume vehicles, has forged an agreement with a Japanese company that has developed a system to produce the material more quickly and cheaply.
Carbon fiber is lightweight and about 10 times stronger than steel, but it has been time-consuming and costly to produce, limiting its use to exotic and high-end performance vehicles. For instance, Chevrolet uses carbon fiber for the front fenders and door skins of the limited-production Corvette ZO6, which helps bring its curb weight down to about 3,100 pounds.
The manufacturer, Teijin Limited, is a world leader in composite technology, and its innovative carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic technology could lead to more high-volume use of the material, GM says.
“Our relationship with Teijin provides the opportunity to revolutionize the way carbon fiber is used in the automotive industry,” said Steve Girsky, GM vice chairman. “This technology holds the potential to be an industry game changer and demonstrates GM’s long-standing commitment to innovation.”
Teijin’s breakthrough technology allows carbon-fiber components to be created in under a minute on a mass-production scale by using thermoplastic material rather than the thermosetting resins of traditional production, which take much longer to mold. The material is also easier to handle in the production process, which also lowers cost.
For consumers, that means lighter cars, trucks and crossovers with improved fuel economy and added safety benefits from the strong material.
Teijin plans to establish the Teijin Composites Application Center in the United States early next year.
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at
Carbon fiber is lightweight and about 10 times stronger than steel, but it has been time-consuming and costly to produce, limiting its use to exotic and high-end performance vehicles. For instance, Chevrolet uses carbon fiber for the front fenders and door skins of the limited-production Corvette ZO6, which helps bring its curb weight down to about 3,100 pounds.
The manufacturer, Teijin Limited, is a world leader in composite technology, and its innovative carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic technology could lead to more high-volume use of the material, GM says.
“Our relationship with Teijin provides the opportunity to revolutionize the way carbon fiber is used in the automotive industry,” said Steve Girsky, GM vice chairman. “This technology holds the potential to be an industry game changer and demonstrates GM’s long-standing commitment to innovation.”
Teijin’s breakthrough technology allows carbon-fiber components to be created in under a minute on a mass-production scale by using thermoplastic material rather than the thermosetting resins of traditional production, which take much longer to mold. The material is also easier to handle in the production process, which also lowers cost.
For consumers, that means lighter cars, trucks and crossovers with improved fuel economy and added safety benefits from the strong material.
Teijin plans to establish the Teijin Composites Application Center in the United States early next year.
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at
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