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Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation to Invest in CPC, an Italian Company Manufacturing and Selling Auto Components Containing Carbon Fibers and Aluminum Composite Materials


WEBWIRE

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Hitoshi Ochi; “MCC” hereafter) has decided to invest in C.P.C. SRL (Headquarters: Modena, Italy; “CPC” hereafter), an Italian company manufacturing and selling automobile components made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), as part of its efforts to strengthen the carbon fiber business in the U.S. and European markets. Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber and Composites GmbH (Headquarters: Dusseldorf, Germany), a wholly owned subsidiary of MCC, acquired a 44% equity stake in CPC from its founder.

CFRP has drawn increasing interest in the global automobile market as the key to making car bodies lighter amid global moves to toughen fuel economy regulations and reduce CO2 emissions. In fact, moves by carmakers to use CFRP in their auto components on a full-fledged basis have gathered momentum in view of the plastic having characteristics of being light but strong. Under these circumstances, MCC, concerning its carbon fiber business, has adopted the policy of strengthening production of intermediate materials (materials produced by impregnating carbon fibers with resins that are just before being processed into final component products). Based on this policy, MCC will focus on industrial sectors with growth potential, including automobiles, windmills and pressure vessels. As for auto components, considered as having the biggest growth potential among carbon fiber products, MCC aims to become a carbon fiber composite material maker that captures the top share of the market by providing optimal solutions to customers through the company’s value-chain networks covering the entire manufacturing process, from component design to production.

CPC is an Italian company engaging in manufacture and sales of automobile components made of carbon fibers and metals. The company has technological expertise and know-how in a range of auto component fields, including component design, molding of carbon fiber composite materials, and design and manufacture of molds used to produce aluminum casting parts and carbon fiber composite material parts. CPC owns one of the world’s largest press facilities exclusively used for pressing of composite materials that are capable of developing and molding large component materials. MCC is convinced that it will accelerate the use of its carbon fiber composite materials such as SMC*1 and PCM prepreg*2 in auto component materials by taking advantage of CPC’s component design capabilities, molding technologies, development and proposal power, and its commercial distribution networks with U.S. and European car makers. In the future, MCC will study additional investments in CPC.

MCC envisages boosting its consolidated sales from the carbon fiber composite materials business to 100 billion yen in 2020 under APTSIS 20, a medium-term management plan formulated by the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group. To achieve this goal, MCC is committed to expanding its carbon fiber composite material business in industrial sectors, especially the auto parts sector in which demand for such materials is booming.

Overview of CPC

Company Name: C.P.C. SRL

Location: Modena, Italy

Establishment: 1959

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*1 SMC

SMC stands for sheet molding compound. Shaped like sheets, the SMC is an intermediate material that is manufactured by dispersing carbon fibers, each cut to several centimeters, on resins. Press forming employed in the molding process can process the compound into component materials in just two to five minutes. Compared with prepregs, SMCs are capable of molding more complex shapes of component materials.

*2 PCM prepreg

PCM stands for prepreg compression molding. The PCM prepreg is an intermediate material of CFRP. It is a sheet-shaped material that is manufactured by impregnating continuous carbon fibers with resins, and is used when the component material is press-formed in a layered fashion, employing the PCM method exclusively developed by MCC, a method enabling mass production of auto component materials with a cycle time of about five minutes through the use of a press machine for compression molding. Component materials molded through the PCM method have very smooth surfaces, the outer side of which are fit for Class-A coating, and can be used as exterior panel materials.


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