Covestro Makroblend UT235M chosen for Lexus ES luggage panel via in-mold coating

Covestro Japan Ltd. has announced that its Makroblend® UT235M PC blend is the substrate for a large luggage panel on the Lexus ES, now in series production. The component is manufactured by Toyoda Gosei using in-mold coating (IMC), which combines injection molding and coating in one process and eliminates conventional post-painting steps. Covestro says the grade was selected for exterior appearance, dimensional stability and durability, and it is compatible with the IMC coating system.

Key facts

Market context

Polycarbonate (PC) blends are engineering thermoplastics valued for impact strength, toughness, dimensional stability and surface quality, which makes them common in automotive interior and exterior trim, electronics housings and glazing applications. Automakers favor them where parts must combine structural performance with a high-quality finish. In-mold coating (IMC) is a process that injects and coats a part in a single operation, so the separate post-painting step is no longer needed. This cuts handling, energy use and paint-line capacity requirements, and it shifts some value from paint shops to molders and material suppliers. For resin producers, a move toward IMC can change which grades are specified, because the substrate must be compatible with the coating chemistry as well as the mechanical requirements. Wider uptake in one market can therefore influence grade selection, qualification timelines and competitive positioning among PC blend suppliers serving automotive exterior parts.

Source: official release on covestro.com. Summary and context written by Market Krystal.