Peugeot Creates Stylish Accessories

French automotive OEM Peugeot launched a new 308 hatchback late last year and the car has racked up a number of awards since, including the 2022 German Compact Car of the Year (yes, a French car won a German award), the 2022 Women’s World Car of the Year and the Red Dot Design Award. As Peugeot is historically known for its design prowess and because it wants to make the new 308 as au courant as possible, it has turned to additive manufacturing to add a little soupçon of contemporaneity to the car.

Peugeot’s Design, Product and Research & Development teams worked with HP, material supplier Mäder and service provider ERPRO.

The objective was to develop products that could be 3D printed with the HP Multi Jet Fusion system, creating accessories for the 308 with the BASF Ultrasint thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that was developed by HP and BASF.

The material’s attributes — high elasticity, high surface quality and the ability to have high detail — are why Peugeot opted for it.

Apparently the use of a TPU in vehicle interior applications is so novel that Stellantis Group (Peugeot’s parent company) has applied for a patent on it.

The products printed are a sunglasses holder, a beverage holder and a phone holder.

A TPU cellphone holder for the new Peugeot 308 printed with an HP Multi Jet system. Peugeot wanted to create products that are useful while having an avant-garde appearance. Photo Credit: Peugeot

Peugeot designers who worked on the project wanted to create accessories that were not only functional, but which would have an innovative look in keeping with the new vehicle. This led them to the investigation of 3D printing.

Because of the familiarity that Peugeot has achieved with additive on producing these accessories, its engineers are examining application on more technical applications for future Peugeot vehicles.