MT Magazine July/August 2025

THE SALES & MARKETING ISSUE

34

LAMARKABLES

and visually random, producing those marble-like swirls you see on steering wheels and mirror caps. But here’s the truth: It’s a manufacturing shortcut – and that’s fine. Efficiency is good. But let’s not dress it up with metallurgical cosplay. The term “forged carbon” was popularized by McLaren and Audemars Piguet to inject some marketing muscle into a process that, while legitimate, literally has less (structural) integrity than woven carbon. You want forged metal? Grab a hammer. You want carbon fiber? Respect the weave. Alternatives to CF and Their Impact on Safety and the Environment The potential banning scare revealed something important: If carbon fiber were suddenly yanked off the materials roster, what would step in? The good news is that plenty of alternatives have been developed in the last two decades. Enter Tegris and hemp composites. Tegris is a polypropylene-based composite whipped up and trademarked by Milliken (a company name that should ring a bell to anybody who took physics or chemistry!). It’s been used in NASCAR for decades for good reason – it’s an impact resistant, relatively lightweight thermoplastic (read: recyclable). While not as sexy as carbon fiber – more utilitarian than exotic – it’s been proven on the oval and beyond. Think of it as the workhorse to carbon fiber’s show pony. Then there’s hemp. That’s right – plants. Porsche, among others, has experimented with hemp-based natural fiber

composites for interior panels and even bodywork. These materials are renewable, low cost, and surprisingly stiff. They don’t quite match carbon fiber’s strength-to-weight ratio, but they boast a lighter environmental footprint, which is increasingly part of the performance calculus. So yeah, if carbon fiber ever takes a sabbatical, there’s a shortlist of gritty upstarts waiting in the wings. But make no mistake – they’re not replacements. They’re alternatives. No one’s writing odes to hemp weave or Tegris grain any time soon. Still King — for Now Carbon fiber remains the darling of performance engineering, but it’s no longer untouchable. Alternatives are gaining ground. Regulators are sharpening their pencils. And marketers are blurring definitions. But until someone figures out how to make hemp sparkle or Tegris feel like a $20,000 watch case, carbon fiber will continue to reign. It’s not just strong; it’s iconic. And as long as manufacturers keep weaving dreams in black gold, we’ll keep chasing it. If you have any questions about this information, please contact Stephen at slamarca@AMTonline.org. For more LaMarkable content, stream “Road Trippin’ with Steve” now at IMTS.com/RTWS.