Material supplier Teijin to establish European automotive centre

Japanese material supplier Teijin Ltd. has announced plans to establish the Teijin Automotive Center Europe GmbH (TACE) in Wuppertal, Germany in February this year as a new base for technical functions within the company’s automotive composite business.

Envisioned demonstration and CAE trials to be performed at TACE.. Photo Credit: Teijin Ltd.

The company will handle concept, designing, prototyping, evaluations, marketing, and technical research for next-generation automotive components, utilizing the Teijin Group’s capabilities to provide multi-material solutions for next-generation vehicles.

In a Jan. 28 statement, Tokyo-based Teijin said that TACE will enable it to strengthen and advance its solution capabilities “by establishing a strong platform for collaboration” within the Teijin Group’s European automotive composite bases. “It is expected to speed up concept, designing, prototyping and the evaluation of technical proposals developed by each base,” the statement said. “Later, TACE will develop marketing and research functions to explore opportunities for new technologies and potential acquisitions, aiming to accelerate joint development with European automakers and respond to demands for greater design freedom, productivity and cost-efficiency as well as weight reduction and strength.”

TACE is part Teijin’s recent push into targeting the automotive composite business. In 2017, Teijin acquired Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) to become a Tier 1 supplier focused on multi-material automotive composite. In Europe, CSP’s French operation will open a new sheet molding compound plant and Teijin has acquired leading automotive-composite suppliers Inapal Plásticos SA of Portugal and Benet Automotive of the Czech Republic.