[Image above] Credit: AGRRMag; YouTube
Driven by increasing use of glass, higher safety concerns, increasing incorporation of smart glass, and lightweighting efforts, the market for automotive glass is expected to reach a value of $25.12 billion by 2021.
[Like market value stats? Watch for the upcoming April issue of the ACerS Bulletin—out in just a couple of weeks—which will feature a full market report of the ceramic and glass industry.]
While glass has been an integral material in automobiles ever since laminated glass entered into the windshield scene in the 1920s, glass is being incorporated into an ever-expanding list of uses in automobiles. And its not just quantity—automobiles are incorporating stronger and smarter glass into their increasing applications, too.
For instance, Corning Incorporated’s super-strong Gorilla Glass is branching out from smartphone screens and into car windshields and new automobile applications as engine covers in new models of the Ford GT. And the powerful engine of the new Acura NSX is covered with glass, too.
Engine covers are an interesting and aesthetically pleasing application for automobile glass that would have been unthinkable without more recent advances to make glass stronger than ever before.
But in addition to the incorporation of heads-up displays and even digital marketing into automobile glass, what other glass developments are trending in the automobile world?
Watch this short video from glassBYTES.com to find out what was on the show floor at last month’s auto show in Washington, D.C.
Credit: AGRRMag; YouTube