Celanese Materials Innovation Earns Two SPE Automotive Innovation Awards
Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials and chemical company, has announced that two automotive applications developed using its advanced materials technologies have received top honors at the 55th annual Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) Automotive Innovation Awards. The awards ceremony took place on November 4, 2026, in Livonia, Michigan, recognizing outstanding achievements in automotive design, engineering, manufacturing and sustainability.
The two winning applications demonstrate how innovative material solutions can contribute to more efficient vehicle manufacturing, improved product performance and greater sustainability across the automotive industry. Developed by Celanese customers Cooper Standard and Aisan Industry for automakers Volvo Cars and Toyota, the applications were recognized in the Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies and Sustainability categories.
The winning technologies include a fully thermoplastic body door seal manufactured using Celanese Santoprene® thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) and a fuel delivery module incorporating Celanese POM ECO-C, an engineering polymer produced using captured carbon dioxide (CO2). Both solutions highlight the growing role of advanced polymers in helping automotive manufacturers improve material efficiency, simplify production processes and support circular manufacturing strategies.
Cooper Standard Receives Recognition for Advanced Thermoplastic Door Seal
The Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies award was presented for a body door seal engineered by Cooper Standard for Volvo Cars using Celanese Santoprene® thermoplastic vulcanizate technology.
The award-winning component represents an advancement in automotive sealing systems by replacing a conventional construction that typically combines EPDM rubber with a metal carrier. The new design uses a fully thermoplastic structure, offering opportunities to simplify manufacturing while reducing component weight and improving design flexibility.
Traditional automotive door seals often require multiple materials and manufacturing processes to achieve the required sealing performance, durability and structural characteristics. Combining rubber materials with metal reinforcement can also create additional challenges during manufacturing, material separation and end-of-life recycling.
By adopting Santoprene® TPV, Cooper Standard developed an alternative approach that eliminates the need for the mixed rubber-and-metal construction. This material innovation supports a more streamlined component design while maintaining the sealing performance required for automotive applications.
Weight reduction remains an important objective for vehicle manufacturers as they work to improve fuel efficiency, extend electric vehicle driving range and optimize overall vehicle performance. Although individual components may represent relatively small portions of total vehicle weight, improvements across multiple vehicle systems can contribute to broader efficiency gains.
The thermoplastic construction also provides manufacturing advantages. Simplifying the component structure can reduce production complexity and provide manufacturers with greater flexibility when designing and integrating sealing solutions into vehicle platforms.
Another important benefit is recyclability. Conventional combinations of rubber and metal can be more difficult to separate and process at the end of a vehicle’s service life. A fully thermoplastic solution offers a more straightforward material structure, supporting improved recycling opportunities and helping automotive manufacturers advance their circularity objectives.
The recognition highlights how material engineering and collaboration between suppliers and automakers can create practical improvements in vehicle components without compromising their essential functional requirements.
Aisan Industry Wins Sustainability Award with Celanese POM ECO-C
The Sustainability award went to a fuel delivery module engineered by Aisan Industry for Toyota using Celanese POM ECO-C, an innovative engineering polymer manufactured through Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology.
The fuel delivery module demonstrates how captured carbon dioxide can be used as a feedstock to produce high-performance engineering materials for demanding automotive applications.
POM, or polyoxymethylene, is an engineering thermoplastic commonly used in automotive components because of its mechanical strength, dimensional stability and durability. Fuel-system applications require materials capable of delivering reliable performance under demanding operating conditions.
Celanese POM ECO-C has properties comparable to conventional POM materials, allowing manufacturers to adopt the alternative material without making significant changes to existing component designs or production infrastructure.
One of the key advantages of the material is its drop-in conversion capability. Aisan Industry was able to incorporate POM ECO-C into the fuel delivery module without redesigning the component, changing molds or modifying established processing conditions.
This compatibility is particularly important for automotive suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Introducing new sustainable materials can sometimes require substantial investments in tooling, engineering validation and manufacturing adjustments. Materials that can be integrated into existing production systems provide a practical route toward improving sustainability while maintaining established manufacturing operations.
The technology behind POM ECO-C also represents an important development in carbon utilization. Through CCU processes, captured CO2 is converted into a valuable feedstock for producing engineering polymers.
Instead of relying entirely on traditional fossil-based raw materials, the approach provides an alternative pathway for manufacturing high-performance plastics. It demonstrates how industrial emissions can become useful resources in the production of materials that serve important functions in modern vehicles.
For automotive manufacturers, this development is relevant as sustainability requirements increasingly influence material selection, supplier relationships and product development strategies.
The ability to use captured carbon in engineering polymers while maintaining the material characteristics required for critical automotive components provides an opportunity to advance lower-carbon material solutions without sacrificing application performance.
POM ECO-C also supports customer efforts to increase circular content across a diverse range of material solutions. Its adoption in Toyota’s fuel delivery module demonstrates the potential for carbon-utilization technologies to move beyond experimental applications and become part of established automotive manufacturing processes.
Collaboration Drives Automotive Material Innovation
The two SPE® Automotive Innovation Awards reflect the importance of collaboration between material suppliers, automotive component manufacturers and vehicle manufacturers.
Celanese provides specialty materials and application development expertise to support customers working on increasingly complex automotive engineering requirements. Its technologies are designed to address challenges involving performance, weight reduction, manufacturing efficiency, material selection and sustainability.
In the case of Cooper Standard and Volvo Cars, Santoprene® TPV enabled the development of a simplified thermoplastic door-sealing solution. Meanwhile, the collaboration involving Aisan Industry and Toyota demonstrated how POM ECO-C could be incorporated into an established fuel-system application using captured carbon dioxide.
Both projects illustrate different approaches to improving automotive products through material innovation.
The first focuses on component design, manufacturing simplification and improved recyclability. The second demonstrates the potential of alternative feedstocks and carbon utilization in the production of engineering plastics.
Commenting on the recognition, Todd Elliott, Senior Vice President of Engineered Materials at Celanese, emphasized the importance of combining materials technology, application development and collaboration throughout the automotive value chain.
He explained that the awards demonstrate how Celanese works with customers and automaker partners to create value through improved performance, more efficient manufacturing and more circular material solutions as the mobility industry continues to evolve.
The recognition also reinforces the importance of developing materials that meet the technical requirements of automotive applications while supporting manufacturers’ broader environmental objectives.
Celanese Technologies Also Featured in Award Finalist Applications
In addition to the two winning applications, Celanese materials were included in other finalist projects at the 55th annual SPE® Automotive Innovation Awards.
These applications included a hidden rear wiper manufactured using Santoprene® TPV and turbo air ducts produced with Celanese polyphenylene sulfide (PPS).
The hidden rear wiper application demonstrates the versatility of Santoprene® TPV in automotive exterior and functional components. The material can support applications requiring a combination of flexibility, durability and reliable performance.
The turbo air duct application, meanwhile, highlights the use of Celanese PPS in automotive systems that require engineering materials capable of operating under demanding conditions.
PPS is recognized as a high-performance engineering thermoplastic used in applications where properties such as heat resistance, dimensional stability and mechanical performance are important.
The presence of Celanese materials across multiple finalist applications demonstrates the company’s broad portfolio and its involvement in different automotive systems.
From sealing technologies and fuel delivery components to air management systems, advanced engineering polymers continue to play an important role in vehicle design and manufacturing.
Sustainability Becomes a Major Priority for Automotive Manufacturers
The recognition comes at a time when automotive manufacturers are increasingly focusing on reducing environmental impacts throughout their supply chains.
As the industry transitions toward electrification, connected mobility and more sustainable production practices, material suppliers are under growing pressure to develop solutions that combine technical performance with improved environmental characteristics.
Vehicle manufacturers are examining opportunities to reduce component weight, improve production efficiency, increase recyclability and explore alternative raw materials.
Advanced thermoplastics and engineering polymers can contribute to these objectives by enabling more integrated component designs and offering alternatives to conventional material combinations.
Technologies such as CCU also create opportunities to rethink the sourcing of raw materials. Converting captured carbon dioxide into useful industrial feedstocks represents one potential approach to reducing dependence on traditional fossil-based resources.
However, successful adoption depends on ensuring that alternative materials deliver the reliability, durability and processing characteristics required by automotive applications.
The Celanese award-winning projects demonstrate two practical examples of how these objectives can be addressed through collaboration and material development.
Supporting the Future of Automotive Engineering
The 55th SPE® Automotive Innovation Awards recognition highlights Celanese’s contribution to advancing automotive material technologies.
The two winning applications demonstrate how different material innovations can address important industry challenges. Santoprene® TPV supports simplified component construction and improved recyclability, while POM ECO-C introduces captured CO2 into the production of an engineering polymer suitable for demanding automotive applications.
The additional finalist applications featuring Santoprene® TPV and Celanese PPS further demonstrate the company’s involvement across multiple vehicle systems.
As automotive manufacturers continue to pursue more efficient, lightweight and sustainable vehicles, advanced materials are expected to remain an important part of future engineering and manufacturing strategies.
Through its collaboration with customers and automotive manufacturers, Celanese continues to develop material solutions intended to meet evolving performance requirements while supporting manufacturing efficiency and circularity across the global automotive value chain.
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