Some 150,000 metric tons of natural fibre composites – the vast majority of them based on drylaid nonwovens – are employed in new European cars and trucks each year.
As such, this is a much bigger market than the global automotive industry’s use of carbon fibres – estimated to be around 83,000 tons in 2014.
This, however, is far from the impression that is given from visiting a trade show such as Composites Europe, which took place in Stuttgart, Germany, from September 22-24.
Carbon fibre parts are simply everywhere.