voestalpine bags order worth EUR 100 million from Porsche

Saturday, 10 Oct 2009

voestalpine announced that two of its group companies namely, voestalpine Polynorm and voestalpine Gutbrod, have jointly been awarded a major order by Porsche AG with a volume in excess of EUR 100 million.

The scope of the contract includes safety related components, floor structures and various other structural components for Porsche sports cars. Production of the components will be carried out at two of voestalpine's German sites, at voestalpine Polynorm in Schwäbisch Gmünd and at voestalpine Gutbrod in Dettingen Erms.

The patented product 'phs ultraform' will be used for the safety related components. Phs ultraform is a hot dip galvanized auto body steel newly developed by voestalpine which is produced in Linz. The world’s first ever press hardening plant for series production has been developed at voestalpine Polynorm in Schwäbisch Gmünd.

The galvanized, cold pressed components are heated to 900°C, then cooled down within a few seconds to 70°C and hardened in the process. The corrosion protected components produced in this way from press hardened steel are characterized by a significantly higher strength while simultaneously saving weight thus making an important contribution to reducing fuel consumption.