Rising demand for sport utility and crossover vehicles coupled with changing global emissions standards has many automakers adopting lightweight, thermoplastic liftgate modules. Magna has launched two thermoplastic liftgates this year – on the 2019 Jeep Cherokee and 2019 Acura RDX. The company has announced it will launch two more later this year in China. This will further strengthen the positioning of the company in the growing global automotive liftgate market.
These thermoplastic liftgates provide up to 25 percent weight savings compared to steel versions and allow for broader design flexibility. According to the company, more than 3 million thermoplastic liftgate modules have rolled off Magna production lines around the world. In addition to mass savings and design freedom, key benefits of Magna's full-system assembly and delivery approach include reduced complexity of the total liftgate module, lower tooling investment and increased throughput at the assembly plant.
"Magna's thermoplastic liftgate modules answer the growing demand for products that help automakers cut vehicle weight, improve fuel efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions, extend electric vehicle battery range, and improve aerodynamics," said Magna Exteriors President Grahame Burrow. "They also enable greater design freedom, which means our customers are better able to shape their brand image and perform more frequent and cost-effective mid-cycle refreshes."
According to Stratview Research, automotive liftgate market is estimated to grow at a healthy rate over the next five years to reach an estimated value of US$ 5.2 billion in 2023. Organic growth in the automobile production owing to increasing disposable income and growing urbanization, increasing the share of SUVs production, and increasing demand for lightweight liftgates to reduce the overall vehicle weight for achieving stringent government regulations, such as CAFÉ Standards are major growth drivers of the global automotive liftgate market.
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Image and News Source: https://www.magna.com/company/newsroom/releases/release/2018/08/30/news-release---magna-opens-doors-in-growing-global-liftgate-market
