Forvia ex Faurecia : Using Less for Lighter Vehicles

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Technology Article Using Less for Lighter Vehicles 23th March 2026 Press Contact 23th March 2026 One of the simplest ways to reduce a vehicle's environmental impact is to make it lighter. Less weight means less energy needed to move it - and that benefit compounds across millions of vehicles over millions of kilometers. NFPP composites, Microjet Advanced, and MuCell are technologies FORVIA applies toward exactly that goal. Different methods, same direction - use less material, carry less weight, emit less CO₂. Send by email Copy link Copy text Building with Natural Fibers NFPP stands for natural fiber polypropylene - a composite that combines up to 50% natural plant fibers, primarily French-grown hemp, with a polypropylene base. Produced in flat-mat form and compression-molded into interior components such as door panels and trunk liners, it has been in production for over two decades. Compared to conventional all-plastic parts, NFPP components weigh up to 50% less with a CO₂ footprint reduced by a similar margin. The most advanced version, NAFILean-R, pairs 20% hemp fibers with a polypropylene matrix made from 40% recycled plastic, reducing CO₂ emissions by up to 87% compared to standard industry materials. In the version using a fully recycled PP matrix, the CO₂ balance turns net negative. Additional savings can be achieved by implementing a design for low manufacturing waste approach. In the case of NFPP, this can be achieved, for example, by working on the shape of the finished part to maximize yield and by waste valorization through re-grinding. Using Air as an Engineering Tool NFPP reduces a part's weight by changing its composition. Microjet Advanced and MuCell cut weight by changing what is inside it, both built on microcellular injection molding, and applied across FORVIA, with Microjet Advanced developed within Interiors and MuCell within Lighting. The shared foundation works by dissolving a gas, typically nitrogen or CO₂, into molten plastic under high pressure during the molding process. When the material enters the mold and the pressure drops, the gas nucleates into millions of microscopic bubbles distributed uniformly through the part. The result is a component with a solid outer skin and a lightweight foam core - structurally sound, significantly lighter. The foaming agent is a gas rather than any chemical additive, so the weight reduction is a direct product of the process itself. In Interiors, Microjet Advanced builds on this foundation with two further innovations that push weight savings to 15-25% per component. The first is bio-inspired design. Engineers at FORVIA studied how nature achieves structural efficiency - the way a dragonfly wing carries load through thin material and dense ribbing, or the way bone combines a hard outer shell with a porous interior. Microjet Advanced applies the same logic - thinner walls supported by rib structures on the back face and an integrated foam core, allowing the material to remain hollow. The geometry does the work that extra material would otherwise do, delivering 10-20% weight savings through design alone. The second is a ceramic tool coating that solves a longstanding cosmetic problem with foam molding. When gas expands inside a mold, it can leave faint surface marks, such as visible streaks or uneven gloss, that make foam-molded parts unsuitable for passenger-facing surfaces. The ceramic texture eliminates this, allowing the same thin-wall, rib-back design strategy to be used on visible interior surfaces as well as hidden structural ones. In practical terms, this removes the need to engineer a separate design approach for aesthetic versus structural parts, reducing component complexity across an interior assembly. The whole system runs on a single polypropylene grade, and the parts can be mechanically recycled without material separation. In Lighting, MuCell is applied alongside slimmer component designs and fewer parts to lower the CO₂ footprint of headlamp systems. FORVIA HELLA's Sustainable Headlamp concept shows what this approach can deliver - a CO₂ footprint up to 70% lower across the full product lifecycle, with a headlamp weighing 2 kg compared to a conventional 5 kg. The goal is to reach these gains without additional cost to customers. Engineering Progress That Adds Up NFPP, Microjet Advanced, and MuCell point toward the same outcome: parts that meet performance requirements while demanding less of the materials and energy used to make them. These technologies reduce material input, recover production waste, and lighten the final vehicle, contributing across the full value chain to FORVIA's commitment to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 90% by 2045. 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