Visteon is claiming a breakthrough on its new interiors technology employed on the new Renault Modus.
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In this first commercial European application using a Visteon technology called negative vacuum forming Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO), the company says that same look and feel is achieved on both the instrument panel and door panels of the Modus — creating harmony and balance in the vehicle interior.
The Modus, launched at the Paris Motor Show, is Visteon’s first application of negative vacuum forming TPO — also known as negative thermoforming — on both the instrument and door panels of a vehicle.
Visteon claims that this advanced technology produces a high level of craftsmanship with superior grain and pattern definition and that it also allows for greater freedom in the use of colours, textures and surface effects.
Negative vacuum forming is the technology used to form and imprint grain to skins. The raw material used in the process is Thermoplastic Polyolefin non-grained foil. The grain is printed on the skin during the vacuum forming process, while heat, vacuum and pressure are combined. The grained mould is porous to permit air extraction from the skin.
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By GlobalDataThe technology can be used either on compact skins for foaming or on complex skins for low-pressure over-moulding. It has proved to be a cost- effective solution by offering an economical alternative to PU (polyurethane) and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) skins and by using less costly tooling.
“Visteon’s negative vacuum forming TPO technology offers a complete portfolio for finishing of instrument and door panels, which can be adapted to meet the most challenging needs of the vehicle manufacturer,” said Ralf Haibach, interior systems product development director, Europe and South America. “The process brings unique grain and pattern definition to instrument and door panels as well as console skins. The same look and feel can be achieved for the full vehicle interior and maintained throughout the vehicle’s lifetime.”
The Modus instrument panel and door panels are manufactured at Visteon’s Medina de Rioseco facility, close to Valladolid, Spain. The facility, opened in 1993, manufactures a full range of interior parts.
