Shanghai, 28 May, 2010 – Bayer MaterialScience today opened the Bayer AutoCreative Center in Shanghai, China. 

By being close to customers in China, the center aims to foster local innovation and collaboration across the entire automotive value chain and to help further develop China’s future design and engineering talent. 

“As the world’s largest consumer and manufacturer of automobiles, China continues to be a leader in the growth of the automotive market and plays a crucial role in the sustainability of the industry,” said Patrick Thomas, CEO of Bayer MaterialScience. “By leveraging our track record of innovation and with leading technologies and global expertise, we aim to collaborate with China’s industry players in jointly contributing to the overall market development. The Bayer AutoCreative Center further highlights our strong commitment to increasing local innovation and industry collaboration.”

At the center, Bayer MaterialScience will work alongside customers from the early stages – product design, material solutions and project development – to the production process. And by leveraging Bayer's global R&D network and local expertise, the Bayer AutoCreative Center will be able to foster links with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as major industry players. 

"We are excited to be a key player in the world’s fastest-growing automotive market.  Together with the local automotive community, our innovative solutions will continue to drive a more sustainable automotive industry in China, particularly in delivering benefits in weight reduction and reduced energy consumption,” said Michael Koenig, President of Bayer MaterialScience in Greater China.

With increasing market demand for environmentally friendly and energy saving vehicles, the Bayer Automotive Technology Center will play a key role not only to provide materials to deliver new innovations in design aesthetics, but also to contribute to the development of more efficient, low carbon vehicles. This includes the focus on fuel efficiency, CO2 emission reduction and lightweight materials for vehicles. Bayer MaterialScience recently announced collaboration with Tongji University Automotive College in developing sustainable energy vehicles, is a good example of the company’s commitment to contributing to the development of China’s automotive market. 

The Bayer AutoCreative Center is located at the Polymer Research & Development Center (PRDC) in Pudong, Shanghai. The PRDC, a Bayer MaterialScience facility, provides technical services, new application development and customer training.