Seats ahead: Mass-produced sleek carbon-fibre seatbacks will come from the tie-up between carbon-fibre specialist Quickstep and seat supplier Futuris.

AUSTRALIAN carbon-fibre component specialist Quickstep is collaborating with Melbourne-headquartered global seating and interior parts-maker Futuris Automotive to develop a lightweight seatback for automotive manufacturers.

The carbon-fibre structural shell is claimed to provide a 50 per cent weight saving over conventional seatbacks and will become available from mid-2017.

Futuris is leading the design, specification and testing of the seatback and Quickstep will provide advanced composites expertise to manufacture demonstrator parts using its patented RapidQure and Resin Spray Transfer (RST) production methods.

The carbon-fibre seatback appears to fit the Futuris FS4 seat the company is offering to worldwide car manufacturers and, as GoAuto has reported, will be offered with either steel or carbon-fibre construction.

David Marino

Quickstep CEO and managing director David Marino said the project will enable the company to demonstrate the production rate and quality of structural automotive parts it can produce in volumes of 20,000 units per year and more.

“This is an extension of the recent developments in our tooling, equipment and materials solutions for our next-generation RapidQure process, offering volume manufacturing systems for the automotive industry,” he said.

Funding from research and technology body Excellerate Australia will support the project.

Quickstep provided carbon-fibre air intake for the Ford XR6 Sprint farewell special –its first automotive OEM project – and is developing and manufacturing composite body parts for the Thales Hawkei military vehicle.

Other Quickstep manufacturing activities include parts for the F35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and C130J Super Hercules military aircraft.

Futuris also supplies Ford, along with Chery, Faraday Future, General Motors, Karma Automotive, SAIC Motor, Tesla Motors, and a number of other automotive manufacturers.

This year, around 91 million automotive seat frame sets are expected to be produced worldwide, a market worth approximately $US16 billion ($A20.8b) annually.

In its recently published annual report, Quickstep recorded $50.1m in revenue, up 27 per cent over the previous financial year. It has a confirmed order book of $120m, up by $45m, largely from its aerospace projects.

The company recently landed a deal with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology to develop and supply composite manufacturing equipment for the government-funded body to develop and commercialise new technology for the South Korean automotive industry and other manufacturing sectors.

Under the US-based equity fund owner that acquired it in 2013, Futuris is powering ahead with rapid overseas growth, 5000 staff and a turnover of $US600m.

By Haitham Razagui