Toray Industries (Tokyo / Japan; www.toray.com) is to open a new automotive facility in Germany in 2018. Based near Munich, the "Automotive Center Europe" (AMCEU) will open in August 2018 as part of Toray’s move to strengthen its research and development activities relating to its "Green Innovation (GR) Business Expansion" project in Europe. The facility will consist of an office block and a laboratory (including a showroom), and will have a total floor area of about 3,400 m².

The development follows the company's expansion in automotive technologies and its Nagoya-based automotive centre, which opened nine years ago. The Toray group’s net sales of materials for automotive applications grew about 10% per year between 2014 and 2016, versus around 2% annual growth in global automobile production.

Toray said the AMCEU would act as a core technology development base in Europe, capable of handling new applications and offering one-stop service to customers in Europe. It will offer solutions combining advanced materials, such as carbon fibre composite materials, resins and films and the technologies for mastering them, including moulding and design, as well as evaluation services and technological support.