From the glovebox to the bumper fascias, General Motor's latest compact offers new levels of comfort and performance with a coordinated range of polypropylene grades from Basell.
“This significant amount of resin used in the Opel Corsa further supports the continuing success story of PP in the automotive industry,” said Basell’s Ulrich Mende, key account manager for Opel.
Comfort and quality in the passenger compartment
For the interior of the new Corsa, GM was looking for materials that combined low gloss with good scratch and mar resistance. Basell's Hostacom grades, using a new additive package and a talc filler loading reduced from 20% to 15%, delivered the required surface quality, as well as weight reduction.
Hostacom materials are used throughout the interior in the instrument panel, glove box, door panels and centre console, as well as the door panels, pillar trims, seat covers and trunk trim.
The high precision and surface quality of these components was obtained through extensive mould-flow and warpage analysis carried out by Basell, allowing the surface finish of the components to be optimised.
Tough, lightweight PP outside
The exterior components, moulded in UV-stabilised Hifax resins, include side-claddings and bumper fascias with integrated grills.
The low thermal expansion of these grades allows close integration with the bodywork, while excellent impact-stiffness balance delivers good mechanical performance and at the same time keeping wall thickness and thus weight to a minimum. Producing such large, thin-walled components also requires resins with high melt-flow characteristics.