In spite of the tremendous degree of secrecy about the novel mini car "Smart", currently being built in Mercedes Benz and Swatch's joint automobile factory in Hambach in Lorraine / France, more and more details are leaking out. MC Micro Kompact Car AG (MCC, PO Box 121, CH-4800 Zuffingen) is the lead development contractor. At an international conference for the specialist press at BASF AG (D-67056 Ludwigshafen) on 29 and 30 June, Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Fischer confirmed that the total "Smart" body shell was being manufactured from a single thermoplastic material, using "hang on" parts. This means that the plastic parts were fixed to a steel skeleton, both internally and externally. This concept will also be used for complete production ready automotive doors. Four German automotive component manufacturers are responsible for this project: Ymos AG (HQ: D-61379 Obertshausen) is project manager and manufacturer of the external parts, Gebr. Happich GmbH (HQ: D-42285 Wuppertal) is responsible for the interior cladding panels, Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co KG (D-96403 Coburg) is responsible for the door opening mechanism and Schwarwächter GmbH & Co KG (Hohenhagener Str. 26, D-42855 Remscheid) is responsible for the door closure mechanism. Ymos Managing Director, Gerhard Krischer estimated the turnover of this new joint venture as DM 100m per year.

BASF is a regular development partner for the new "Smart" project and although aware of the details is unable to comment on them. Plasteurope.com research suggests that all of the body shell exterior parts are produced from engineering thermoplastics from General Electric Plastics (European HQ: PO Box 117, NL-4600 Bergen op Zoom).

READER SERVICE: Press conference speech: "Plastics are also on the way for car bodies – weather resistant thermoplastics for large automotive exterior body panels" by Dr. Bernhard Rosenau, BASF Styrene Copolymers Business Unit (German): PIE-No. 37938.