Past, present and future of plastics in the automotive industry.

For some time, plastics have played an important role in automotive components applications. Benefits offered by plastics include chemical resistance; provision of thermal insulation, electrical insulation and acoustic insulation; flexibility of design; mechanical resistance; and stability against vibration. Plastics are also over two times lighter than aluminium and are cheaper than metals. When used to produce automotive parts, the weight savings mean lower fuel consumption per mile travelled. In this …