Multifunctional Automotive Glazing – Examples and Trends

Andreas Leupolz & Alfred Ott

The main structure of today's glazing for automotive applications hasn’t changed for decades and continues to be either tempered or laminated glass. However, there has always been a continuous demand to improve the performance of the glazing of passenger cars in order to meet the increasing requirements concerning aesthetic, all around visibility and more and more additional functionality. The glazing of modern vehicles is on the way to become a multifunctional glazing with high benefit for the end user.

Some examples will show trends of the glazing for passenger cars and coaches. The extremely high
requirements in the segment of top class and luxury cars have already resulted in glazing systems exclusively based on laminated glass with a variety of interlayers and coatings. In the future attractive functions like solar control and acoustic insulation are supposed to penetrate the midsize car segment.

By all means it is essential that there is a close cooperation between glass manufacturer and car manufacturer already in the development phase of new products to find the best solutions for the customer.

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