Saint-Gobain Sekurit and Corning Inc. have signed an agreement to establish an exclusive joint venture, equally owned by Saint-Gobain and Corning, to develop, manufacture and sell lightweight automotive glazing solutions. The venture is expected to build manufacturing facilities to meet worldwide automotive market demand.
The two companies say this new venture will take advantage of their unique synergies to bring revolutionary innovations to the automotive market. Laminated windows made with ultra-thin Corning Gorilla Glass for automotive and Sekurit’s automotive glass and window technologies offer a significantly improved combination of lightness, toughness and optical quality over traditional solutions, according to the two companies.
These thin, lightweight automotive glazing solutions can be used for all laminated windows in an automobile and can significantly reduce vehicle weight, which can improve fuel efficiency, environmental impact and vehicle handling. In addition, the two companies say the joint venture’s glazing solutions will further enable automakers to develop the “car of the future,” including improved head up display images.
“By combining the know-how of Saint-Gobain, a world leader in developing and processing automotive glass, with Corning’s innovative Corning Gorilla Glass technology, the joint venture will provide the opportunity to create a major innovation in one of Saint-Gobain’s historical businesses,” said Houchan Shoeibi, president of Saint-Gobain Sekurit.
“We are excited to collaborate with a world leader in automotive glass, Saint-Gobain, to accelerate the adoption of thin, lightweight, durable and optically advantaged auto glazing,” said Martin Curran, executive vice president and innovation officer. “Today’s announcement further demonstrates Corning’s ability to leverage its glass fusion manufacturing expertise and auto industry experience to extend Gorilla Glass into the automotive glass market.”
This agreement is subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities.
