Diversified global company, Asahi Kasei, will participate in Fakuma 2026, a leading trade event for industrial plastics processing that will take place from October 12 to 16 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. At its booth B5-5305, Asahi Kasei will present a broad range of high-performance plastics and material solutions designed to address key challenges facing the automotive and industrial sectors.
The exhibits will highlight how advanced polymer materials can contribute to more efficient and sustainable manufacturing while supporting the evolving requirements of connected and autonomous mobility, automotive interior design, and increasingly electrified industrial systems.
A key focus of Asahi Kasei’s presence will be materials that enable new approaches to automotive component design and production. In the Automotive Exhibition Corner, the company will showcase solutions for automotive radar, interior components, and lightweight polycarbonate glazing applications. Xyron is a modified polyphenylene ether (mPPE) resin that combines dimensional stability, lightweight characteristics, and advanced metal plating performance. At Fakuma 2026, Asahi Kasei will showcase coated slotted waveguide antenna samples for automotive radar applications. By enabling lightweight, highly precise, and cost-efficient antenna designs, Xyron supports the next generation of connected and autonomous vehicles.
Traditionally, automotive interior components such as instrument panels, door panels, armrests, and center consoles have been produced using multiple materials and separate manufacturing processes for the skin, foam, and structural core layers. Asahi Kasei’s styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer streamlines this approach by enabling both the skin and foam layers to be formed from the same material family. Through core-back injection molding, the layers can be produced in a single process, while strong chemical bonding between them eliminates the need for additional adhesives. The result is a simplified material structure that reduces manufacturing complexity, lowers material usage, and enhances the recyclability of interior components. Asahi Kasei is currently developing a novel water-based coating system that enables polycarbonate as a glass substitute in automotive front-, rear-, and side-window applications. Polycarbonate coated with this technology achieves ECE R43-compliant abrasion resistance and the required weather resistance for automotive windscreens. This opens opportunities for the overall reduction of vehicle weight. At Fakuma 2026, Asahi Kasei will display an automotive front window made of polycarbonate and coated with Asahi Kasei’s hard coating.
Industrial exhibition corner
Beyond automotive applications, Asahi Kasei will present materials for demanding electrical and industrial applications. The Industrial Exhibition Corner will bring together solutions that address requirements, including flame retardancy, tracking resistance, high-temperature performance, dimensional stability, lightweight construction, and sustainable material concepts. LEONA™ offers a broad portfolio of polyamide and PPA materials designed for demanding industrial electrical applications. At Fakuma 2026, Asahi Kasei will present flame-retardant PA66 and high-CTI tough PPA solutions for glow-wire connectors, transformer components, SMT connectors, and power modules. Combining excellent flame retardancy, high tracking resistance, mechanical durability, and reliable high-temperature performance, LEONA™ enables safer and more compact electrical systems.
