SGL Carbon Supports Award-Winning BMW Natural Fiber Composites for Automotive Applications

© BMW Group

(IN BRIEF) SGL Carbon has been recognized as a key contributor to the BMW Group’s BMW M Natural Fiber Composites project, which won the JEC Composites Innovation Award 2026 in the “Automotive & Road Transportation – Parts” category. The collaboration delivered production-ready flax-based composite components for visible automotive parts, supported by SGL Carbon’s advanced resin and prepreg systems. By addressing moisture sensitivity and meeting strict automotive requirements, the project combines high performance with sustainability, achieving significant CO₂e and weight reductions compared with conventional carbon fiber materials.

(PRESS RELEASE) WIESBADEN, 14-Jan-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — A joint innovation project involving SGL Carbon and BMW Group has been recognized with a JEC Composites Innovation Award in the category “Automotive & Road Transportation – Parts.” The award was presented on 12 January 2026 during the JEC World Premiere in Paris and highlights one of the most forward-looking developments in composite materials for automotive applications.

The winning project, titled BMW M Natural Fiber Composites, showcases production-ready composite components made from renewable, flax-based fibers. Developed through close collaboration between BMW Group, SGL Carbon, Bcomp Ltd., Cobra Advanced Composites Co., Ltd., and PPG Wörwag Coatings GmbH & Co. KG, the solution demonstrates how natural fibers can be successfully integrated into high-performance automotive parts, including visible exterior and interior components.

SGL Carbon played a key role in the project by developing and manufacturing specialized resin and prepreg systems tailored for flax fiber fabrics. These pre-impregnated materials were engineered at SGL Carbon’s sites in Meitingen and Willich to address one of the major challenges associated with natural fiber composites: their sensitivity to moisture. By overcoming this limitation, the materials meet the demanding technical and visual standards required for automotive series production.

The newly developed transparent resin system improves durability, processing stability, and surface appearance, while maintaining the mechanical and thermal performance expected of modern composite materials. This innovation enables flax fiber composites to be used not only for structural efficiency but also for design-focused applications where visible quality is critical.

Beyond technical performance, the project delivers significant sustainability benefits. Compared with conventional carbon fiber reinforced plastics, the use of natural fiber composites can reduce the CO₂e footprint by approximately 40 percent during production, while also lowering component weight and offering advantages at end of life. The award underscores the potential of renewable materials to support the automotive industry’s transition toward lower-emission, resource-efficient solutions.

About SGL Carbon

SGL Carbon is a technology-based company and a world leader in the development and production of carbon-based solutions. Its high-quality materials and products made from specialty graphite, carbon fibers and composites serve many industries that are shaping the trends of the future: climate friendly mobility, aerospace, solar and wind energy, semiconductors, and LEDs as well as the production of fuel cell and other energy storage systems. In addition, SGL Carbon develops solutions for chemical and industrial applications.

In 2024, SGL Carbon SE generated sales of 1.0 billion euros. The company employs approximately 4,400 people at 29 locations in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Further information on SGL Carbon can be found at www.sglcarbon.com/press.

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Important note:

To the extent that our press release contains forward-looking statements, the latter are based on information that is available at present and on our current forecasts and assumptions. Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, entail known as well as unknown risks and uncertainties that may lead to actual developments and events differing substantially from the forward-looking assessments. Forward-looking statements must not be understood to be guarantees. Instead, future developments and events depend on a large number of factors; they comprise various risks and imponderables and are based on assumptions that may possibly turn out not to be appropriate. These include unforeseeable changes to fundamental political, economic, legal and societal conditions, particularly in the context of our main customers’ industries, the competitive situation, interest and exchange rate trends, technological developments as well as other risks and uncertainties. We perceive additional risks e.g. in pricing developments, unforeseeable events in the environment of companies acquired and Group member companies as well as in current cost savings programs from time to time. The SGL Carbon assumes no obligation and does not intend to adjust or otherwise update these forward-looking statements either.

Media Contact:

Claudia Kellert
Head of Investor Relations, Communications and Corporate Sustainability
Soehnleinstrasse 8
65201 Wiesbaden/Germany
Telephone +49 611 6029-100
Fax +49 611 6029-101
press@sglcarbon.com
www.sglcarbon.com

SOURCE: SGL Carbon