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Coats partners with Elemental to develop sportscar lightweight wheel arches

  • 23 Feb 2016

Coats, the world's leading industrial thread manufacturer, has announced it will partner with Elemental Motor Company.

The unique partnership will see Elemental work with Coats Speciality to develop the ultra lightweight and strong wheel arches for the British company’s forthcoming Rp1 sports car. The innovative design will ensure that every aspect of the Rp1 is engineered and designed according to modern motorsport principles while still incorporating space-age materials and brand new cutting edge production methods.

Rajiv Sharma, Global CEO, Industrial, Coats, said: ‘Our partnership with Elemental is an example of our focus on customer-led innovation.  Combining our specialist product expertise and newly developed range of composite fibres with Elemental’s automotive knowledge offers potential for much more successful and effective applications.’

John Begley, Founder and Technical Director, Elemental Motor Company, said: 'We are delighted to be working alongside Coats Speciality in the development of the wheel arches for the Rp1. Coats Speciality’s track record for innovation reflects Elemental’s own desire to push the boundaries in terms of design, materials used as well as manufacturing techniques, to create a car that is at the very forefront of the lightweight sports car sector.'

Elemental is due to announce further technical detail plus the final production design of the innovative new wheel arch design at the JEC World composites show in Paris starting on 8 March 2016.

ENDS

For more information and to request a photo of Anne Fahy contact:

Kristina Blissett, Head of Communications kristina.blissett@coats.com
T +44 (0)208 210 5084, M +44 (0)7714 539887

Notes to Editors

About Coats

Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market. At home in some 60 countries, Coats employs 19,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2016 were US$1.5bn.

Coats’ pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company leads the way around the world: providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; applying innovative techniques to develop high technology Performance Materials threads and yarns in areas such as automotive, composites and fibre optics; and extending the crafts offer into new markets and online.

Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a FTSE 250 listed company on the London Stock Exchange.

  • Each year we make enough thread to go into 8 billion pairs of jeans - that’s one for every person on the planet
  • Every month Coats produces enough thread to stretch all the way to the sun
  • More than 450 million pairs of shoes are made every year using Coats’ thread
  • More than 100 million car airbags are made using Coats’ Performance Materials thread every year
  • In 1879 Thomas Edison used Coats’ thread in his experiments to invent the light bulb
  • Our Red Heart knitting and crochet yarn brand has been named ‘America’s Most Recommended’ by the Women’s Choice Award for three years running
  • Our flame retardant Performance Materials threads can withstand temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius
  • Coats is the second largest supplier of zips to global brands

About Elemental Motor Company

Elemental Motor Company was founded in 2012 with the aim to develop a cutting edge and lightweight sports car in the form of the Rp1. The company is part of Elemental Group Ltd, and its manufacturing facility is based in Hambledon, Hampshire, UK. With core specialisms in high performance automotive and racecar engineering, vehicle dynamics and systems, advanced composites technology, advanced manufacturing, vehicle design and styling, the team at Elemental Group has over 120 man-years of experience at the cutting edge of British Automotive Design.

For further information visit: www.elementalcars.co.uk.