GE Advanced Materials, Automotive Revs Up Its Instrument Panel Program Featuring Two New Best-in-Class Resins

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — April 28, 2005 — Demonstrating another example of its commitment to provide technically advanced material solutions to automotive customers across the globe, GE Advanced Materials, Automotive has introduced a reinvigorated Instrument Panel (IP) program, featuring several new high-performance acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and polycarbonate (PC) grades, as well as an expanded range of world-class technical resources and support.

GE shifted its IP program into high gear with the launch of a new series of Xtreme Cycoloy* PC/ABS resin blends, representing the latest materials breakthrough in GE’s continuing development of its Cycoloy resin family. This selection of impact-resistant resins delivers best-in-class thermal aging and hydrolytic stability, as well as excellent low odor and emissions. The Xtreme Cycoloy resins also provide significantly improved flow performance compared to standard grades, which may offer automotive OEMs the potential for improving cycle times by as much as 10 percent. Reduced wall thicknesses of up to 10 percent may also be achievable, therefore offering the possibility of lower-cost components.

Additional momentum to GE’s upgraded IP program comes from its introduction of Lexan* EXL 1414H resin, a new polycarbonate-siloxane (PC-Si) copolymer grade that offers automotive designers and OEMs new synergies between integrated airbag and IP design, which may help to enhance consumer safety. The low temperature ductility of the new resin, down to –40 C, allows robust airbag deployment with no material fragmentation, potentially increasing consumer safety vs. similar PCs or lower performing resins currently on the market.

Also key to airbag and IP designers is GE’s recent innovation of a new integrated seamless airbag door design, and its dedicated Airbag Testing facility located in Pittsfield, Mass., for helping customers with application development.

“Designers of modern automotive interiors must strike a delicate balance between functional and safe designs on the one hand, and stylish and consumer-enticing aesthetics on the other,” said Robert Nelson, market director for Interiors & Structures at GE Advanced Materials, Automotive. “GE can help with enhanced performance and better looks for instrument panels, new innovations in integrated airbag door designs, or all of the above. Designers can expect to find an array of solutions and support from GE’s innovative IP program and the advanced new resins we are now offering.”

In addition to the new IP program’s impressive array of innovative materials and value-added customer support, automotive OEMs will find that GE Advanced Materials offers several other world-class resources, including:

• One of the broadest product portfolios of colors and effects for interior trim and component applications in the form of its Visualfx* resin family;

• Top-end support for performing structural CAE and process simulation to help customers reduce risk and speed up development cycles; and

• An array of offerings from GE’s LNP* Specialty Compounds portfolio to address emerging needs such as electronic shielding, noise reduction, and wear resistance.

GE Advanced Materials, Automotive distributes all its new and existing IP grades globally, and offers a wide range of resources to support automotive application development worldwide.

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