Continental Structural Plastics Opens European Headquarters Facility in France

Auburn Hills, Mich., October 10, 2013 -Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), a global leader in light-weight composite solutions, announced today it has moved into its new European Center for Advanced Technology. Located at Zone Industrielle La Pidaie in Pouancé, France, the facility extends the company's global footprint into Europe, and expands its capabilities in light-weighting, carbon fiber solutions and structural composite design.

"The European Center for Advanced Technology improves CSP's ability to provide customers with innovative solutions for structural, light-weight composite designs," said Frank Macher, chairman and CEO of CSP. "All of our customers in Europe and around the world have unique challenges, and this facility allows us to focus on the advanced manufacturing processes behind our customized design solutions."

The new European facility, which is a leased property from a composites manufacturer previously located in the space, includes approximately 12,000 square-meters (130,000 square-feet) of manufacturing space and a large showroom area. CSP has equipped the facility with six compression molding presses, 12 thermoplastic injection presses and significant supporting equipment purchased from the composites manufacturer that had occupied the space.

"With the capacity to process numerous technologies in the same place, the European team is currently developing innovative and hybrid processes that will soon apply to automotive light-weight programs in Europe, the U.S. and later in China," said Philippe Bonte, general manager, CSP Europe. "Previous to CSP's lease contract, the Pouancé facility generated high volume production, including more than 1,400 composite hatchbacks per day, so we expect to contribute several affordable solutions to the high-end car market."

For more than 40 years, Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) has provided leading-edge technologies in light-weight materials and composite components for the automotive, heavy truck, HVAC and construction industries. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan,
CSP holds more than 50 patents covering materials development and manufacturing processes in composite materials formulation, engineering design and manufacturing technologies. For more information, visit www.cspplastics.com.