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Press kitOctober 2-19, 2014Paris Motor Show Hall 1, Booth D521

Faurecia at the 2014 Paris Motor Show

Faurecia presents its latest innovations in lightweighting and energy efficiency for cleaner vehicles and improved fuel economy.

Faurecia’s technologies to develop cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles begins with weight savings. A 10 kg weight reduction of a vehicle lowers its fuel consumption and leads to a drop in CO2 emissions of 1 g/km.

Through new product architectures and optimized design, the development and use of alternative materials and new production processes, Faurecia can offer weight reductions of up to 100 kg per vehicle within the 300 kg package it provides. This reduction is achieved compared to traditional materials, and in particular through the use of composite materials.

Weight savings are a vital part of innovation at Faurecia, leading to new design solutions and optimal

steel thickness for seat structures and exhaust systems. To this end, composites pave the way for groundbreaking solutions to reduce the weight and ecological footprint of vehicles. Use of carbon-fiber composites can produce weight savings of 50% compared with steel. Faurecia has extensive expertise across the full range of composite parts—whether painted or visible-carbon exterior parts, semi-structural or structural—and is present in all market segments, including mass-production models, sports & luxury vehicles and trucks. It continues to build on its leading position in weight-saving technologies, offering a solid array of processes to manufacture composite parts in high volumes for mainstream vehicles—such as Sheet Molding Compound (SMC) and Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) technologies—while demonstrating its expertise in optimizing multi-material structures and assembling parts that combine metal with composites.

In terms of fuel economy, Faurecia is also working on energy-recovery solutions. In an internal combustion engine, around one third of the energy contained in the fuel is dissipated in exhaust heat. Faurecia is developing technologies that can recover part of this available thermal energy to help reduce fuel consumption up to 3%. Once captured, the energy can be used to heat the cabin or accelerate engine-warming time. Faurecia is also working with automakers on new energy-recovery technologies to turn heat into electrical (or mechanical) power that can be immediately used by the vehicle.

Faurecia’s 290 sqm booth at the 2014 Paris Motor Show (Hall 1, Stand D521) presents an array of products that illustrate the way in which it is helping to create cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars. Faurecia is especially involved in the project to develop an affordable vehicle able to travel 100 km on two liters of fuel, for which it has helped automakers to curb CO2 emissions by up to 7.5 g per kilometer. Some of these advances can be seen aboard some of the prototypes featured at the show, including the Peugeot 208 HYbrid Air 2L and the Renault EOLAB.

Contents

« Less is More » demonstrator .............................................. 5

Lightweight seat with optimized architecture ........................... 6

Fiber glass composite vehicle floor ........................................... 7

Composite carbon-fiber tailgate and lightweight bumper ........ 8

Compact exhaust line ................................................................ 9

Compact Exhaust Heat Recovery System (EHRS) ..................... 10

Biosourced interior parts ........................................................... 11

Lightweight window-lifter .......................................................... 12

Hybrid crosscar beam ................................................................ 12

Other products on display ...................................................... 13

Magnesium seat structure ............................................................... 13

Lightweight exhaust system ............................................................. 14

SCR BlueBox ® compact mixer system ........................................... 15

Complete seat system with Cover Carving technology .................... 16

Complete lightweight seat mechanisms and

structure of the Volkswagen up! ...................................................... 17

Media contacts ............................................................................. 18

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«Less is More» demonstrator

Lightweight seat with optimized architecture

Faurecia has successfully used innovative solutions to reduce the thickness and weight of the front seats, providing more room for rear passengers without compromising the safety or comfort of vehicle occupants. In the B segment, this has led to front seat structures that are 35% lighter than conventional counterparts in the same segment, largely through an optimal combination of different materials including steel, non-ferrous metals such as aluminum and magnesium, and carbon-fiber composites.

Faurecia has also created a seat back that is 30% more compact by drawing on three areas of expertise:

Optimized seat-back structure;A semi-stiff shell with an adaptive back mounted on the seat structure to tailor comfort to each individual shape of back;A smaller recliner.

These technologies make it possible to reduce the weight of the rear shell by 40% while providing an extra 3 cm of leg room for passengers in the rear.

All of these innovations allow automakers either to create a roomier vehicle with the extra 3 cm or to obtain an indirect weight saving of 3 kg if the length of the vehicle is reduced by 3 cm.

Combined with the 4 kg shaved off the weight of each front seat through the use of innovative materials, this means Faurecia can offer automakers weight savings of up to 11 kg, or 1.1 g of CO2 per kilometer.

This lightweight optimized seat has been chosen by Renault for its EOLAB prototype, presented on its booth at the Paris Motor Show.

Faurecia R&D teams are now exploring which materials can best reduce the weight of seats while meeting industrial requirements..

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«Less is More» demonstrator seat


Renault EOLAB prototype seat

2 To muffle the noise resulting from this drop in density, Faurecia has also improved the floor design by incorporating acoustic components into the empty space between the upper and lower layers of the thermoplastic structure.

This approach to rethinking materials and design has put Faurecia in a position to offer a floor that is 16.5 kg lighter (11.5 kg in the front and 5 kg in the rear) than a conventional steel floor, reducing CO2 emissions by 1.65 g/km.

The product achieves the goal of a 33% weight saving set by Renault for its EOLAB concept and could enter production four or five years from now.

Fiber glass composite vehicle floor

Faurecia engineers have developed an integral structural floor comprising a front and rear passenger floor and a trunk floor made of composite thermoplastic material reinforced with glass fiber, which is made using “thermostamping” techniques.

In addition to offering outstanding mechanical performance to meet crash-test requirements and ensure recyclability, the polyamide-based composite thermoplastic (PA 6.6) with glass-fiber reinforcement also makes it possible to weld and over-mold parts. The technology reduces both weight and costs compared with bonding while producing a material able to withstand the very high temperatures created during cataphoresis.


Fiber glass composite vehicle floor

3 Faurecia’s technology offers a number of other advantages in addition to the weight savings resulting from the use of composite materials, including:

The removal of interior trim components as a result of the quality of the carbon-fiber material, which can be painted directly;The reduction in the number of parts to be assembled, such as the mechanisms (a single tailgate stabilizer);The integration of features to facilitate assembly (e.g. electrical-cable grooves);The ability to produce more complex shapes than with parts made of metal or glass, such as the rear window.

The composite tailgate featured on the Peugeot 208 Hybrid Air 2L comprises a combination of plastic and carbon fiber, reducing weight by 35% or 7 kg. The “low-cost carbon-fiber project” (FORCE) launched by the Plateforme de la Filière Automobile (PFA) in France should make this material more affordable and ensure that it begins to appear on mass-production models in the next eight years.

Faurecia has also trimmed the weight of bumpers by reducing their thickness from 3 mm to 2.5 mm, enabling weight savings in the region of 500 g for each bumper, or 1 kg per vehicle, representing an improvement of 11% compared with conventional bumpers.

Composite carbon-fiber tailgate and lightweight bumpers

Faurecia’s composite tailgate features a “semi-structural” design that consists of a skin and a lining with a thickness of 1.5 mm to prevent torsion. This eliminates the need for additional strengtheners in flat areas by optimizing the direction of the carbon fibers in relation to the forces acting upon them. The stiffness and reduced density have also made it possible to remove one of the two tailgate stabilizers to further reduce weight. A groove is also molded into the lining to accommodate the electrical cables and reduce the number of fasteners.

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Tailgate: left, the carbon-fiber composite version. right, the steel part (series production)

4 Faurecia has used this lower temperature to integrate an innovative plastic Helmholtz resonator (polyamide and glass-fiber) into the exhaust system, which has a density six times lower than that of steel, reducing weight by 50% compared with a steel resonator. Not only is it lighter, but the Helmholtz resonator also effectively muffles low frequencies and reduces the humming sound inside the cabin to enhance the comfort of the occupants.

Faurecia has also worked on reducing the thickness of the steel components used in the exhaust system and has successfully slimmed some internal parts down to just 0.6 mm. The exhaust system has also been shortened by around 1.5 meter compared with systems used on vehicles in the B segment, ending just before the rear wheels.

This new, compact exhaust system has allowed Renault to make additional weight savings of up to 2.3 kg compared with conventional exhaust systems used in the B segment.

Compact exhaust line

Faurecia’s Emissions Control Technologies business group works daily to develop new, innovative exhaust systems that enable ever-greater weight savings while meeting environmental standards and reflecting people’s expectations with regard to cleaner technology.

Faurecia’s partnership with Renault on the EOLAB project has involved a comprehensive approach to the exhaust system. It has partially reworked the exhaust design to introduce plastic materials that are lighter than their steel counterparts. The manifold and emissions control components are based on those found on mass-production gasoline models.

To incorporate these materials into the exhaust system, Faurecia engineers chose to replace the acoustic function of the rear muffler with a resonator by using a gas separation system that can keep the temperature below 200°C (maximum plastic resistance).

Compact exhaust line


5 The Compact EHRS will initially feature on a mass-production hybrid vehicle due to go on sale in the first half of 2016. Faurecia was the first equipment supplier to fit this type of system to a mass-production model, for Citroën in 2006. It is also preparing for the future by working with automakers on new energy-recovery technologies, such as the Rankine system and the Thermo-Electric Generator (TEG), making it possible to convert heat into a source of electrical or mechanical energy that can be used directly by the vehicle.

Compact Exhaust Heat Recovery System (EHRS)

Around 30% of the energy content in fuel is dissipated as exhaust heat. Faurecia designed the Compact Exhaust Heat Recovery System (EHRS) to capture on average 40% and up to 60% of this wasted energy while warming both the engine and the passenger compartment more quickly. By heating the cabin faster, the Compact EHRS allows the electric motor to kick in sooner on hybrid vehicles. This reduces CO2 emissions by an impressive 3 g/km and improves fuel consumption by 7%.

The latest EHRS is more compact and is 50% lighter than the previous version, tipping the scales at just 2 kg. It is the most competitive solution of its kind on the market.

Compact EHRS


6 Faurecia’s NAFILean offers the market an exclusive solution that is compatible with conventional injection-molding machines. The technology made its world debut in the door panels of the new Peugeot 308, which was unveiled to the public at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Biosourced interior parts

NAFILean (natural fiber for injection) is a process developed to introduce natural fibers into high-performance materials for instrument panels, door panels and center consoles made using injection processes. Faurecia’s NAFILean is the automotive interior market’s only injected material with natural fibers and allows for complex shapes and architectures while enabling further weight savings.

NAFILean combines natural, hemp-based fibers with polypropylene—a mixture that produces injected parts that are 20% to 25% lighter than standard plastics, enabling weight savings of up to 2.1 kg. Based on the renewable nature of the fiber portion of the mixture, the industry has validated NAFILean’s end-of-life recyclability and incorporates the solution into its standard processes for regenerating and treating plastics. NAFILean also provides a 40% improvement in fit and finish.


NafiLean interior parts in the instrument panel and door panel

NafiLean IP-part

7 8 Hybrid crosscar beam

The majority of instrument panel crosscar beams used by automakers on mass-production vehicles are made of metal, which is a more affordable material. Although their weight has been lowered over the years, they remain relatively heavy, largely because of the numerous welding points.

Other, lighter materials, such as aluminum and magnesium, are already being used by high-end manufacturers, but the costs involved are prohibitive for mass-production vehicles. As a result, Faurecia has set out to produce lighter instrument panel crosscar beams that can meet the most stringent safety standards at an affordable cost. New manufacturing processes will make these new materials more cost-effective for mass production by 2020.

Faurecia teams are currently working on a crosscar beam that comprises a composite material incorporating both glass fiber and carbon fiber. The result weighs just 3.6 kg, compared with 6.3 kg for a conventional metal crosscar beam, providing a weight saving of 2.7 kg (a reduction of 43%). This “full-composite” crosscar beam is set to feature on mass-production models from 2020.

Lightweight window-lifter

Conventional window-lifter systems are mounted on two metal rails, with steel being the material of choice based on cost, even if it is clearly not the lightest option. Speaker housings are mounted on the door lining; and door-handle supports also consist of individual metal components.

Faurecia’s system involves the use of a one-piece injection-molded module that incorporates all of these three components. This solution is in itself a lighter option. However, it also makes it possible to use fewer parts, which simplifies assembly while reducing the metal door lining and therefore the overall weight of the door.

Faurecia’s integrated lightweight window-lifter module cuts the weight of a five-door vehicle by up to 3.5 kg. The system is already commercially available and is set to appear on vehicles released in 2016.

Lightweight window-lifter

Hybrid crosscar beam


Other products on display

Magnesium seat frame

The challenge for Faurecia lies in producing lighter seat structures that can nonetheless match the performance of today’s systems in terms of both safety and costs: either by improving welding methods for steel structures or by using new materials such as composites or magnesium.

Magnesium has a number of advantages: it is a very light metal with a density of 1.74, compared with 7.6 for steel. It is also easier to use than composites because of its homogeneous composition. A magnesium-alloy seat structure can, for instance, be 15% lighter than conventional steel structures. Using magnesium can therefore reduce the weight of the vehicle by nearly 4 kg.

Faurecia firmly believes in the potential of this material to create a cleaner automotive industry and in 2013 signed a partnership agreement with FAW Foundry in Changchun (China) to develop magnesium-alloy seat structures. The new seats are due to appear on vehicles in a niche segment in 2018-2019 before making the transition to mass-production models in 2020.


Magnesium seat frame

Lightweight exhaust system

In addition to its partnership with Renault, Faurecia is working with Peugeot on developing a vehicle able to cover 100 km on two liters of fuel. The French automaker called on Faurecia’s expertise to develop a lighter exhaust system as part of a project to develop a prototype “Peugeot 208 HYbrid Air 2L” model, powered by a combination of combustion engine and compressed air. In order to incorporate the cells used to store the energy recovered when the hybrid decelerates and brakes, Faurecia’s R&D teams reworked the design of the exhaust system to shift the position of the rear muffler transversely on the exhaust line.

Faurecia also reduced the thickness of all stainless steel components used in the exhaust system, from an average of 1.2 mm to 0.8 mm for muffler pipes and casings down to 0.6 mm for the baffles.

Because of the reduced thickness, the exhaust system is 20% lighter, reducing weight by 1.9 kg compared with the exhaust system used on the current mass-production Peugeot 208 (9.2 kg).

However, the model is still only a prototype and Faurecia teams are already working on other technological improvements to further enhance the environmental performance of this lightweight exhaust system.


Lightweight exhaust system

The SCR BlueBox® system is also compatible with the new generation of SCR coated particulate filter substrates (SCRF or SDPF). It allows automakers to go back to using two substrates instead of three (Diesel Oxidation Catalyst, Diesel Particulate Filter and SCR), which is the current solution in line with Euro 5 requirements.

Faurecia strongly believes that this close-coupled design will become the norm in the next few years. And with reason: in addition to curbing NOx emissions, the compact system also significantly cuts costs and reduces weight by between 3 kg and 4 kg, lowering CO2 emissions by 0.3-0.4 g/km.

SCR BlueBox® compact mixer technology

The new Euro 6.1/6.b standard, which came into effect in September 2014, requires exceptionally low emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx), at below 80 mg/km. This means automakers must ensure that emissions from diesel engines are virtually on a par with those of their gasoline counterparts, which involves introducing a more efficient NOx treatment system using Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).

Faurecia’s new SCR BlueBox® compact mixer technology is designed to meet these extremely stringent NOx standards as well as the requirements of the forthcoming Euro 6.2/6.c standard, which is due to come into force in 2017, introducing even tighter controls on NOx emissions from vehicles.

The SCR BlueBox® compact mixer enables the use of a close-coupled SCR architecture, with or without a particulate filter. The main benefit of this arrangement is early SCR light-off to reduce NOx emissions sooner. Faurecia has also improved SCR heat management by fully insulating the SCR converter.

SCR BlueBox ®


Cover Carving technology can also be used to stitch the cover to the backrest frame itself to ensure a better fit and finish. The process can reduce the overall thickness and weight of the seat. Cover Carving can enable total weight savings of up to 1.5 kg for the two front seats on a vehicle in the D segment.

The technology uses compression molds, which reduce tooling costs tenfold compared with those of conventional backrest frames.

The technology is already in production for a number of vehicles, including Renault models in South America, and is scheduled to appear on vehicles in the D segment made by a major European automaker by the end of 2015.


Complete seat system with Cover Carving technology

The Cover Carving technology developed by Faurecia engineers makes it possible to sculpt the back of the front seat to reduce weight and improve perceived quality.

Traditionally, the backrest of a car seat is formed by attaching a fabric cover to several points on a foam pad. In contrast, Faurecia’s “Cover Carving” technology can embed 3D shapes in the trim cover itself while increasing its stiffness, which eliminates the need for the costly processes traditionally used to lend volume to the seat. This enables unmatched craftsmanship in seat design and enhances perceived quality.

Seat backrest with Cover Carving technology

Through solutions like these, Faurecia has helped to reduce the weight of the metal seat structure on the Volkswagen up! by 15%, representing a saving of around 4 kg per vehicle compared with the previous version.

The overall seat structure system has been optimized to meet—and surpass—the safety expectations of even the most demanding automakers. Faurecia’s standardized seat structures are designed to make it easier to incorporate the full range of innovative features to further enhance perceived quality, which paves the way for even greater customization while retaining all the advantages of standardization.

Complete lightweight seat mechanisms and structure of the Volkswagen up!

Seat structures are of vital importance to automakers and must be durable and resistant enough to keep the seat and safety systems in position in the event of a collision while also being light enough to promote fuel economy and lower emissions.

More widespread use of high-tensile steel reduces weight while providing equivalent functional performance and dissipates energy more effectively in the event of a collision. For example, the complete seat systems for the Volkswagen up! were developed in Germany, alongside their metal structure and mechanisms.

The high-tensile steel chosen by Faurecia designers provides the same stability and safety performance as conventional steel, but is much lighter. One of the manufacturing secrets involves the use of laser welding. However, the design of components such as the integrated headrest and floating cushion also play a key part in shaving off extra weight.


Volkswagen up! seat frame

Media contacts


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FaureciaOlivier Le FriecHead of Media Relations

+33 (0)1 72 36 72 58+33 (0)6 76 87 30 [email protected]

www.faurecia.com/en/press

Faurecia is a world leading automotive equipment supplier with four activities: Automotive Seating, Emissions Control Technologies, Interior Systems and Automotive Exteriors. In 2013, the Group posted sales of 18 billion euros. At December 31, 2013, Faurecia employed 97,500 people in 34 countries at 320 sites, including 30 R&D centers. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange and trades in the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) market. For more information, visit: www.faurecia.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.faurecia.com/en/press

http://www.faurecia.com





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