Auto Interior Parts Designed By Mazda Using Corn-Based Plastic

Tracy Dawson
May 17, 2006

The Mazda Motor Corporation has come up with a new way to craft and manufacture interior parts for their vehicles. This new process comes mainly from corn and the auto manufacturer claims that this type of interior parts could be actually mass produced. Production for these new interior parts for commercial purposes would start in a couple of years.

This discovery and innovation came about as part of the whole joint research project that Mazda is involved in. This research project is a joint venture of the auto industry, the government, and the academe. What they came up with is an improved exterior surface quality for auto interior parts with the use of natural materials which includes corn. Not only that, but the interior parts are also high-strength, and has become heat-resistant plastic. Bioplastic is also another named used for this kind of heat-resistant plastic.

According to Mazda, this newly-developed bioplastic has stronger features compared to the usual commercially produced material for interior parts for vehicles. The research has yielded statistics that showed that this bioplastic has three times the shock impact resistance It also is around a quarter percent higher when it comes to heat resistance. This bioplastic from Mazda also is much more rigid. It thus results in thinner molds and fewer materials used.

The new bioplastic has been created through a fermentation process. It includes natural materials like fermented starches and sugars which is used to create polypropylene. By doing such, it actually reduces energy use by about 30 percent.

Mazda is quite happy with this innovation in interior parts using corn as material. After all, it sure would be bringing in more profit compared to using the usual materials for auto interior parts. The research is still continuing so as to find new developments in this area.

In the meantime, Auto Parts Corner still continually sells factory replacement Mazda parts and accessories online and these are offered at discounted wholesale prizes. The parts are guaranteed to be of highest quality and are always sold at lower prices compared to those parts sold at dealerships.