Caparo joins UK lightweighting initiative

Caparo Advanced Composites engineers and manufactures carbon composites for the automotive industry. Recently, it has started implementing volume lightweight component manufacturing. Caparo has partnered with a government project, funded through the Government's Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative and delivered by The Sigmatex Lightweighting Excellence Programme, aiming to accelerate the use of composites in volume automotive manufacturing.

In delivering the above programme with a total value of £7.15million and led by Sigmatex, Caparo joins other organisations in the field of lightweighting. The consortium will address the lack of capability in the automotive sector to manufacture composite components at high volumes of scale in the UK by connecting the key elements of designing, manufacturing and creating capacity for production. It will offer OEMs and partners the opportunity to accelerate capability in lightweight structures to achieve weight reduction targets driven by strict EU emission legislation coming into effect in 2020.

Mark Dickie, Business Unit Manager at Caparo Advanced Composites, said: "We are delighted to be a part of this prestigious project which will undoubtedly introduce a qualitative change to the automotive industry, benefit the environment and most importantly create and safeguard jobs. We will be working closely with three major UK OEMs to understand and address internal and external challenges. This is a real opportunity to create a UK supply chain that is able and capable to meet the future demands of this important and growing industry."