Bryanston, South Africa - January 30, 2009
The sixth generation Volkswagen Golf, one of Europe’s best-selling cars, will use IMPAXX™ energy absorbing foam. IMPAXX will be fitted under the carpet in order to complement the standard driver-side knee airbag system, by providing improved ankle protection to the driver in the event of a frontal impact. The new Golf, which had its début at the recent Paris Motor Show, is sold in 180 markets. Since its initial launch in 1984, VW has sold over 26 million Golfs worldwide.
As a key development partner for this important model, the Dow Automotive team had several challenges to meet:
- Limited packaging space
- Meet VW quality expectations for this important platform.
- Provide quick responses to the VW engineering team, providing prototypes and design support.
- Meet the low-cost targets set by VW to be competitive on this high volume platform.
- Enable the new Golf to meet Euro NCAP requirements to achieve the five-star rating in frontal impact.
The Dow Materials Engineering Center (MEC) supported VW’s engineering team to optimize the padding design and rapidly provide prototype parts. In addition, IMPAXX foam outperformed other solutions, such as expanded polypropylene (ePP) or injection molded plastic parts. The IMPAXX parts weigh only 4gr, while offering the same technical advantages in energy absorption. Other IMPAXX benefits include reduced packing space which provides greater freedom in the design process and enables last-minute change flexibility and no need for tooling change costs or long lead times.
This new model achieved a 5-star rating for adult occupant protection in recent Euro NCAP tests. Dow Automotive will supply around 700.000 IMPAXX parts annually to VW for the new Golf.
About Dow
About Dow Southern Africa
Dow is a world leader in science and technology solutions, delivering a broad range of products and services to customers in 160 countries. Dow traces its South African origins back to 1959 when its first sales office was established. The company is a significant local industry player and operates through a group of wholly owned subsidiaries namely Sentrachem Limited, Dow Southern Africa (Pty) Limited (including the Chemicals and Automotive businesses) and Dow AgroSciences Southern Africa (Pty) Limited. As a company that has a passion for the betterment of the human condition, Dow continues to be a proactive participant and supporter of Corporate Citizenship programs aimed at conservation and providing support, including education, to orphaned, vulnerable and underserved children. Dow is also supportive of economic transformation in South Africa as well as the Responsible Care® Guiding Principles initiative. More information about Dow Southern Africa can be found at: http://www.dow.com/imea/ssa/about/locations.htm
For Editorial Information:
Grant Law
GGi Communications
27 11 728 1363
Doritha Erwee
Dow Sub-Saharan Africa
27 11 575 1547
