2015 Detroit Auto Show: "Less" Is the Goal as Faurecia Introduces More Ways to Reinvent the Auto Industry

DETROIT -- Jan. 12, 2015: Faurecia, North America's sixth-largest automotive supplier, returns to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week with nearly three dozen new technologies and processes that help reduce vehicle weight while enabling automakers to offer more capability and performance to consumers.

Pursuing a "Less Is More" perspective, Faurecia features systems and components that weigh less, helping improve mileage and decrease emissions. At the same time, these technology advancements provide more comfort and roominess for passengers, more flexibility for vehicle designers and more natural materials for improved sustainability. Faurecia is dedicated to driving well-being for vehicle occupants, the environment and the automotive industry by making "less" a central goal and "more" a consistent result.

A wide range of new approaches to fashioning vehicle systems will be exhibited and demonstrated at Faurecia's display in the Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown Riverfront, directly across from Detroit's Cobo Center. New applications of technology and materials inside, outside and under the vehicle will be highlighted in products from all four of the company's business groups: Faurecia Interior Systems, Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies, Faurecia Automotive Seating and Faurecia Automotive Exteriors.

"At Faurecia, we consider our Driving Well-Being approach to be a reinvention of the way the auto industry views traditional components and systems," said Faurecia North America President Michael Heneka. "We are harmonizing desirable technology for the vehicle with the advanced manufacturing processes that bring them to life, all with the goal of demonstrating that less really can mean more for our customers and consumers."

A centerpiece of the Faurecia exhibit is its Less Is More demonstrator that shows how Faurecia can integrate its innovations into a lighter, more comfortable vehicle with such inventions as:

Thinner, roomier seats built on hybrid frames.

A fiberglass composite rear floor and trunk.

A one-piece, injection-molded window lifter.

A lift gate made entirely of carbon-fiber composites that weighs only half as much as a conventional steel lift gate.

Other Faurecia exhibits introduce a full-size premium trunk floor surface composed of lightweight natural wood materials, an industry award-winning active glove box that replaces separate knee-impact airbags, and a rear seat that folds flat and fully re-opens with just the touch of a button.

Faurecia extends its leadership in the use of natural materials within vehicle interiors to incorporate high-performance natural fibers into the instrument panel, center console and door panels. It also exhibits three new approaches to producing a lighter cross-car beam using composites, hybrid materials or cold-metal transfer welding techniques.

Other Faurecia inspirations can be seen in:

A universal docking station with Bluetooth and near-field communication capabilities.

A family of new technologies to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel engines.

A compact exhaust-heat-recovery system now extended from hybrids to all-gasoline engines.

Technologies to control the levels and types of sound emitted by exhaust systems.

Faurecia is making its second appearance at the annual North American Auto Show with its exhibit January 12-15.