Leading automotive technology company Faurecia, located in Nantes, France, is launching a new branch dedicated to the research and manufacturing of sustainable and smart materials.

Faurecia's strong market positions in vehicle interiors and seats, as well as its unique portfolios of materials with ultra-low and negative CO2 emissions, as well as those combining thermal, acoustic, and bio-medical technologies, will benefit the new Sustainable Materials division.

The Sustainable Materials division will collaborate across business divisions to provide a comprehensive spectrum of low CO2 and even CO2 negative materials to OEMs in order to support their sustainability goals, using its worldwide reach.

Faurecia will use its experience synthesizing bio-sourced materials as well as its transformation knowledge, which includes low variability management, to help them achieve its goals.

The company intends to construct a dedicated Sustainable Materials R&D center as well as a pilot plant, both of which will be operational in 2022. The new division will start with 125 engineers and grow to more than 400 by 2030.

Faurecia’s CEO, Patrick Koller, said that Faurecia aims to expand its commitment to the battle against climate change by investing considerably in the development of materials with very low CO2 footprints. This new division, together with a best-in-class industrial and academic ecosystem, will enable them to accomplish sales objectives of €3 billion in this sector by 2030, encourage sustainable growth, and assist efforts to fulfill their 2030 CO2 reduction commitments.