New Beetle Earns Recognition For Safety

12 November 1998
New Beetle Earns Recognition For Safety; Features Bayer Corporation's Energy-Absorbing Polyurethane Foam
    DETROIT, Nov. 11 -- Volkswagen's New Beetle, which has been
turning heads on America's highways, has now been recognized for another
reason -- safety.
    The Board of Directors of the Automotive Division of the Society of
Plastics Engineers (SPE) has presented Volkswagen with a Special Recognition
Award for the design and implementation of integrated safety features in the
New Beetle that have proven themselves in testing by the Insurance Institute
of Highway Safety (IIHS), and soon are expected to get good marks from the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as well.  Part of the
total vehicle passenger safety design includes utilization of impact-reduction
components in the car's interior.
    This includes Bayfill(R) EA (energy absorbing) polyurethane foam from
Bayer Corporation, which is used in the shroud for the steering wheel column,
knee bolsters in the instrument panel, and shoulder and hip bolsters in the
door panels and rear quarter trim panels.
    The Special Recognition Award was given here this evening at the 28th
annual dinner of SPE's Automotive Division at the Detroit Westin Hotel.  It
notes the use by Volkswagen of plastics and polyurethanes as part of a
comprehensive approach to safety on the car.  The award was announced by
Suzanne Cole, President of Cole and Associates, Inc., a regulatory issues
management consulting firm, who is also a member of the SPE Automotive
Division's Board of Directors.
    "Our Board knows how important auto safety is and wanted to recognize when
approaches to achieving safety have been especially innovative," Cole said.
"Volkswagen's New Beetle is one of the safest vehicles on the road today in
part because of Volkswagen's integration of plastic and polyurethane
components with the overall design of the car and with other materials used in
making the car."
    Cole said the special recognition notes that Volkswagen's senior
management has made a commitment to be a leader in safety.  "The New Beetle's
safety cage incorporates five different energy-absorbing polyurethane foam
crush zones in its design," Cole said.  "It also uses improved front seat
belts, dual airbags, side air bags, structural plastics in both the front and
rear end assemblies -- all integrated by excellent design."
    Cole showed a videotape of crash testing of the New Beetle which clearly
demonstrated how the car measured up.  It earned the highest safety rating of
16 sub-compact cars in testing by the IIHS and is also expected to receive
good marks from the NHTSA.
    The SPE award was accepted on behalf of Volkswagen by Dieter Morsch,
manager of body design and trim, Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, Germany.  He was
accompanied by representatives of American Thieme, which makes the energy-
absorbing interior components; Bayer Corporation, suppliers of the energy-
absorbing polyurethane foam; Sommer Allibert, the systems integrator for the
interior of the New Beetle; and Plastics Omnium, the manufacturer of the front
and rear bumper systems.
    Cole said that in the past, steel was equated with safety.  Today, she
said, the NHTSA and IIHS have seen in their testing how the incorporation of
energy-absorption plastics and polyurethane systems in vehicles contributes to
the overall safety of passengers and the crash-worthiness of the vehicles.
"Plastics can be a driver in saving lives," Cole said.
    Bayer's Bayfill EA foams are used in automotive manufacturing worldwide.
Applications include bumper protection as well as head and neck protection and
front and side impact protection.
    For more information on auto safety regulations and testing, contact:
Cole and Associates, Inc., 16024 Willowshore Drive, Suite 200, Fenton, Mich.
48430.  Telephone:  810-750-3863.
    For more information on energy-absorbing polyurethane foams, contact:
Bayer Corporation, Polymers Marketing Communications Group, 100 Bayer Road,
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15205-9741.  Telephone: 1-800-622-6004.  Web site:
http://www.bayer.com/polymers-usa.
    Bayer Corporation is a research-based company with major businesses in
health care and life sciences, chemicals and imaging technologies.  The
company had 1997 sales of $9.3 billion and employs more than 26,000 people.
Bayer Corporation is investing $9 billion in capital expenditures and research
and development from 1995 through the year 2000.  1998 capital investment and
R&D expenditures are projected to total $1.7 billion.  Bayer Corporation, with
headquarters in Pittsburgh, is a member of the worldwide Bayer Group, a
$32 billion chemical and pharmaceutical company based in Leverkusen, Germany.