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Daimler joins BMW in carbon fiber quest

29.04.10

Toray, a leading carbon fiber manufacturer, said Wednesday that it has signed a joint development agreement with Daimler to produce automobile parts made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics.

The German automaker would like to begin using the carbon-fiber parts in its Mercedes-Benz cars within the next three years.

Toray is developing technology to make the design and molding process for constructing carbon-fiber composite auto parts scalable for mass production. Daimler has been developing how those parts will be joined and installed, according to Toray.

"By bringing together respective technologies, the companies plan to develop a molding method with significantly shorter molding cycle," Toray said in a statement.

Carbon fiber has long been valued and used in the car racing world because it's strong but very lightweight compared to steel or even aluminum. But it's notoriously expensive and time consuming to produce. So while you'll find carbon-fiber parts in luxury sports cars like Porches or Ferraris, it's not something normally used in regular cars.

Source: CNET

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