The acquisition of competitor Borgers Automotive, which was completed on April 1, 2023, marked a significant milestone for all employees. With this step, Autoneum significantly expanded its global market leadership in sustainable and lightweight acoustic and thermal management for vehicles. Borgers’ wheel arch liner and trunk liner product lines, as well as its truck business, are an ideal complement to Autoneum’s product offerings. Thanks to Autoneum’s global presence, the Borgers product portfolio will provide additional potential for profitable growth outside of Europe as well. This growth will be boosted through the active cross-selling of complementary products and technologies in all regions and customer business units worldwide. The celebration of the first shared working day, known as the “Day 1 Celebration,” was held at the former Borgers headquarters in Bocholt and was livestreamed to all locations worldwide. The celebration day represented the start of the integration process, with the goal of combining the best of both worlds to ensure a successful single entity. The organizational integration was completed by the end of 2023, as planned.

The vision of the Polestar 0 project is as clear as it is ambitious: to create a truly climate-neutral vehicle by 2030 by creating new ways of eliminating all sources of climate emissions throughout the entire automobile industry value chain. By participating in the project, Autoneum and other industry-leading partners from suppliers to retailers will be doing their part to make this vision a reality.

With its comprehensive and long-term experience in the development of fiber-based, lightweight mono-material technologies, Autoneum is optimally suited for taking on this challenge. As part of the project, the Company will focus on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of its polyester-based Ultra-Silent technology. With its high share of recycled materials, low carbon footprint and excellent recyclability at the end of the product life, Ultra-Silent already demonstrates excellent environmental performance.

A quiet and comfortable driving experience and resource efficiency are the order of the day when it comes to developing new electric vehicle models. Ultra-Silent Tune combines optimized acoustic performance with the sustainability advantages of the highly environmentally-friendly Autoneum Ultra-Silent Pure technology. Thanks to the innovative use of chamber resonators, the lightweight technology from Autoneum for underbody shields significantly reduces the noise from automobile tires while also ensuring a quiet and comfortable driving experience in electric vehicles.

The noise-absorbing technology also meets the highest sustainability standards. In addition to a high share of recycled PET fibers, underbody shields made of Ultra-Silent Tune can be made entirely of polyester, and can thus be completely recycled at the end of the vehicle's life.

The sustainable Re-Liner technology from Autoneum uses reclaimed polymer from discarded bumpers and transforms what had been an unusable waste product into lightweight and durable wheelhouse liners. In addition to a high share of recycled material, the environmentally-friendly components require much less energy when they are produced than traditional alternatives. With Re-Liner, Autoneum uses its existing capacities on carpet extrusion lines to produce an innovative, lightweight and sturdy material, taking another important step in the direction of a more sustainable circular economy. Thanks to its Re-Liner technology for wheelhouse liners, Autoneum has been named a finalist for the PACE Awards 2023. This renowned prize recognizes excellent innovations, technological progress and business performance by automotive suppliers. The winner of the PACE Awards 2023 will be announced at the end of April 2024 at an award ceremony in Detroit, USA.

As part of the Level Up One 6–8 strategic initiative, the new Business Unit Commercial Vehicles was established at the beginning of 2024, which sets the stage for sustainable and profitable growth. The unit includes medium and heavy trucks as well as agricultural vehicles. The goal is to use the strong customer base and Autoneum’s production capacity to expand the market presence in this segment worldwide. The Business Unit is responsible for the global commercial vehicles business development, while its financial results will be consolidated within the Business Groups. The organizational structure is focused on five main functions: sales, program, development, controlling and operations. Production facilities that manufacture products for this segment are located in Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as in Brazil.

Reducing structure-borne noise, including at low frequencies, presents a particular challenge for developers and engineers working on vehicle acoustics. With Zeta-Light, Autoneum has presented a new concept that equips fiber-based liner components like carpets and inner dashes with an integrated absorption function, and thus improves acoustic performance significantly.

Thanks to the innovative use of particle dampers Zeta-Light not only dampens and absorbs airborne noise, but it also effectively reduces low-frequency body vibrations. Not only does this new damping system ensure a quiet and comfortable driving experience, it also contributes to a significant weight reduction as well as simplified parts logistics and vehicle assembly. Furthermore, because the non-woven capsules are so easy to remove, Zeta-Light is easy to recycle.