Benecke-Kaliko Offers More Options for Car Customization

Thanks to the unlimited options for car interior surface design offered by surface specialist and automotive supplier Benecke-Kaliko, drivers will now be able to express themselves more.

According to Dominik Beckman, Global Head of Marketing at Benecke-Kaliko, a car today is more than just a means of transport as it represents a person’s philosophy in life, approach to work and character. He noted that it is an identity market used by the owner to show who they are. “Choosing the right paintwork color or trim has long since ceased to be enough. Rather, it is inpidual interior concepts and model series tailored to different requirements which attract the customer.”

This is where the company’s Xpreshn product family enters the picture. The surface material comes with almost unlimited inpidualization and can be further improved by means of multiple functional enhancements of the product features.

Xpreshn and Xpreshn HD

Benecke-Kaliko’s new Xpreshn and Xpreshn HD are far superior to the Tepeo and Tepeo 2 solutions. The company is now going beyond the two solutions in its quest to provide ultimate customization but all their benefits have been retained. Moreover, Xpreshn and Xpreshn HD offer a number of new product variants due to the available enhancements.

Currently, Benecke-Kaliko is extending beyond its Tepeo and Tepeo 2 solutions with advanced formulas to expand the portfolio of designs with a sector-leading enhancement options. Customers can also benefit from the company’s F.O.C.U.S. portfolio, which boasts extra features expressing values, lifestyle, personality and inpiduality.

Xpreshn Light and Xpreshn HD Light

What’s more, the Xpreshn Light and Xpreshn HD Light decorative foils also enable automakers to further reduce the weight of their vehicles without the purchaser having to accept lower comfort or quality as a result. Compared to other foil products, these materials feel softer and more pleasant.

Xpreshn Light and Xpreshn HD Light are expanded foils that consist of a compact upper foil and a foamed lower foil. These foils are deep-drawn in the customer’s facility and bonded to the substrate. They offer 20 percent weight saving compared with the Xpreshn and Xpreshn HD materials, which were regarded as lightweight design solutions. This suggests they are up to 60 percent lighter than traditional solutions. However, the benefits go beyond mere weight savings and the associated environmental benefits. Featuring high surface quality, dimensional stability and grain stability, the materials enable tighter radii and impress buyers. They are also offered with the “high scratch resistance” option.

The surface coating of the eco-friendly Xpreshn Eco and Xpreshn HD Eco materials utilizes 100 percent water-based paints instead of numerous solvent-based paint films. Apart from environmental benefits, this solution comes with deep, saturated matte surfaces which are very in demand for premium marques.

Xpreshn Protect and Xpreshn HD Protect

Also included in the list of Xpreshn family variants are Xpreshn Protect and Xpreshn HD Protect, which make no concessions in terms of look and feel because their finish is not down to hardness, but solely to the material’s elasticity. While providing the same softness of touch, their scratch resistance is twice as high as that of Tepeo and Tepeo 2. This boosts the satisfaction of the car buyer and the resale value of the vehicle, while reducing wastage as a result of surface damage during the vehicle production process itself.

Xpreshn Lux

Benecke-Kaliko’s ultra-soft Xpreshn Lux material—which is designed for use in the instrument panel and decorative surfaces—conveys a feeling of quality and its design exudes an emotionally relaxing influence on the occupants. The material is up to 500 percent softer than regular Tepeo. Thus, Xpreshn Lux creates an enduringly pleasant perception from the first touch, which is then further fortified if more pressure is exerted on the material. Whether it is on the center console, door trims, instrument panel or decorative surfaces, wherever the soft feeling pampers the occupants and their sensations and exudes an impression of quality and luxury, the ultra-soft material highlights the character of the vehicle.

Xpreshn Lux Protect, a design solution combining the Lux and Protect enhancements, goes one step. It offers Xpreshn Lux’s ultra-soft comfort feel with enhancement in surface scratch resistance by up to 200 percent at the same time. Dr. Erhard Barho, Head of Research and Development at Benecke-Kaliko, said that only them could offer their customers this combination of contradictory properties.

Benecke-Kaliko’s comprehensive F.O.C.U.S. (Feature Optimized Customer Unique Solutions) portfolio is also offered for all Xpreshn and Xpreshn HD products. It comes with certain solutions that offer customers with the greatest possible extra benefits that will enable them to meet the needs and desires of the targeted car buyer market segment. One of the best examples of this is the Surfvis 3D simulation technology with true-to-life visualization, which saves effort, development time and tool-change costs.