Automakers are tapping additional inte-rior zones to employ natural fiber composites, and for the 2005 model year one vehicle maker's crossover product will use the fully recyclable material that is processed via a one-step forming method. The all-new 2005 Ford Freestyle will use FlexForm's natural fiber composite as a seat backing. "The FlexForm non-woven was chosen because it's a blended material that addressed a noise issue that was occurring with a wood stock-based material," said Gregg Baumbaugh, CEO of FlexForm Technologies. "In addition to solving the noise issue, the natural fiber composite seatback debut reflects an application that does have some load-bearing requirements. In the future, the intent is to have our product utilized as a load floor material, based on formulations that will give the material additional strength."
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