2008-03-03

Hyundai and SABIC Innovative Plastics honored with iF Product Design Award 2008 for QarmaQ Advanced Technology Demonstration Vehicle

The Hyundai QarmaQ Advanced Technology Demonstration Vehicle (ATDV) has been selected as a winner of the International Forum (iF) Product Design Awards 2008 for Advanced Studies, which honors experimental drafts of products and studies that have not yet been implemented. Hyundai Motor Europe and SABIC Innovative Plastics, co-developers of the QarmaQ, jointly won the award, which is being presented today at the Hannover, Germany Exhibition Grounds. For 54 years, the iF design award has served as an internationally recognized trademark for outstanding design. This award attests to the effectiveness of SABIC Innovative Plastics’ strategy of working side-by-side with customers to help them deliver business success.

Key criteria for selecting the QarmaQ ATDV included design quality, choice of materials, degree of innovation, environmental compatibility, functionality, and safety. For example, the concept of the “Elastic Front” safety system featured on the QarmaQ can help reduce the risk of severe injuries in CUV pedestrian collisions. Design innovations included panoramic wrap-around glazing using SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Lexan™ polycarbonate resin. Through the use of thermoplastic materials, QarmaQ designers were given greater expressive freedom to create complex three-dimensional shapes that could not have been achieved with conventional production methods or materials.

Safety, Design Freedom, and Environmental Goals were Achieved


The QarmaQ was developed with three key goals in mind:
• To demonstrate the concept of a pedestrian friendly crossover utility vehicle (CUV) design with the “Elastic Front” passive pedestrian protection concept from SABIC Innovative Plastics.
• To enable design and styling freedom through the use of innovative plastic materials.
• To create a CUV that would reduce greenhouse emissions.

Thanks to weight reduction through the use of plastics, the QarmaQ reached its environmental goals. GreenOrder, an environmental strategy firm based in New York, N.Y. that audited the QarmaQ, estimated that the 60 kilograms that have been taken out of the QarmaQ means the vehicle would require about 80 fewer liters of diesel per year, and would cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 200 kilograms.

The QarmaQ is among the 821 prizewinning entries in the 2008 iF product design competition that will have materials on display in Pavilion 36 and at the Information Center on the exhibition grounds. These prizewinners will also be part of iF’s online exhibition and 2008 Yearbook.

Information about the company: Sabic Innovative Plastics Denmark ApS