Innovative surface materials from Continental – designed for the future of mobility

It’s like entering another world: Music swirls invitingly
through an interior as if it’s showing off its home. Tinted windows ensure companionable privacy.
Pleasant, clear lighting effects provide orientation. Smooth, uncluttered surfaces present
themselves in bright natural colors – seats, couch, tables, floors, doors and headliner. In this
vehicle interior, everything is perfectly coordinated. An environment that invites you to linger and
promises comfort. This converted VW T2 Bulli named AMBIENC3 is only “retro” from the outside,
inside it offers a view of the future. Visitors to Automotive Interior Expo in Stuttgart; Germany, from
November 9-11, 2021, will be able to experience Continental’s new concept vehicle first hand on
stand A4250/Hall 4.
The allround concept of the AMBIENC3 is the “3rd Space,” a space that combines driving, working
and relaxing in the vehicle interior and offers design concepts tailored precisely to the individual
application. What makes the concept vehicle so special, however, are the surface materials from
Continental. “With their properties, our surfaces support driving, working and relaxing. The areas
are separated by color, design and function,” says Ralf Imbery, Head of Innovation, Transformation
and Design at Continental’s surface experts.

Renewable, sustainable, natural
The issue of sustainability plays an important role in this: “Our idea was to develop a vehicle that’s
made primarily from sustainable materials – based on natural and renewable raw materials, while
consistently saving wood and genuine leather,” emphasizes Imbery. “The development of authentic
surfaces and high-quality products is very important to us here. We also support our customers
and suppliers in their efforts to become more sustainable.” For this reason, Continent al’s surface
specialists are increasingly using recycled materials or materials from upcycling as well as low
emission and low pollution materials for the vehicle interior. Lightweight surfaces also help save
vehicle weight. As a result, energy consumption is reduced, emissions are further reduced, and
electric vehicles have a longer range.

Staynu and laif technology from Continental are widely used in the AMBIENC3. The staynu
technology ensures that the material stays and looks new for longer – which conserves resources.
The laif technology effects that the material is permeable to air and water vapor. This results in
particular comfort, impressive softness and special acoustic properties.
Autonomous driving drives surface trends
The automotive industry has long been in agreement that the future is “autonomous driving.” And
this is precisely the context that Continental has created the perfect interior for, with the
AMBIENC3 and its 3rd Space concept. Because if you no longer have to focus on driving and pay
constant attention to the traffic, you have time to relax or work. “The design always has an eye on
the allround concept: Good design should not only be sustainable, but also natural and inspiring –
based on the shapes of nature and consistently focused on use,” says Imbery. This also means
that it must be intuitive, so that everything works without permanently visible buttons and switches.
For Continental, this is not an utopian vision, but a concept that could soon go into production – not
least thanks to “shy technology,” which hides buttons until they’re needed.
Iconic car with the interior of tomorrow
The exterior of the AMBIENC3 has happily been preserved. The iconic VW Bulli shines in its retro
look – and this is where the circle closes: In the AMBIENC3, retro meets the future. A motto
Continental stands for in its Anniversary Year: 150 years in the service of mobility form the basis
for the coming decades.

In addition to the AMBIENC3, Continental will be presenting the trend book and associated N3XT
collection (pronounced “next three”), which present visionary future designs against the backdrop
of the three megatrends of “Natural Elements”, “Human Being” and “Cyberspace”. The idea behind
“Natural Elements” is to get back to nature again and find inspiration in natural materials and
products. “Human Being” is about the influence of different cultures, social trends and individual
lifestyles. “Cyberspace” contains innovative, futuristic-looking materials with some complex
technical structures.

Design collection also takes home interior concepts as a role model
A complete design collection for vehicle interiors is contained in Panel Films Vol. D. Continental’s
design experts are constantly working to ensure that their customers feel comfortable in their
vehicles. In addition, new home interior design concepts are a particular source of inspiration for
them, which they then apply to surface materials for the automotive industry.
All these surface concepts will be on show at Automotive Interior Expo in Stuttgart.