SPE Awards 2025

EMS-GRILTECH wins Grand Award at the SPE Automotive Awards Night 2025

At the SPE Automotive Award Night of the Society of Plastics Engineers, EMS-GRILTECH achieved an outstanding success: The company was named overall winner of the Automotive Awards 2025 and presented with the coveted Grand Award. The award was won for a textile interior application made using Grilon yarn and combining innovation, sustainability and freedom of design. This solution, which sets new standards for interior finishings in automotive construction, was developed in close cooperation with the customer.

The 23^rd SPE Automotive Award Night took place on October 6, 2025 in Bonn (Germany), gathering the most innovative manufacturers in the polymer materials industry. EMS-GRILTECH impressed the jury with an innovative textile solution for vehicle interior design. The award-winning application impressively demonstrates how technology, sustainability, and style can go hand in hand, and prevailed against numerous strong competitors.

Textile Innovation sets new standards

The award-winning component, entered in the body interior category, includes the dashboard, door trim elements and armrest made from innovative textile material, opening up new design possibilities. The 2D knitting technology used enables virtually unlimited design and customization in terms of colors and surface structure, as well as precision manufacturing. This allows efficient use of resources and achieves process cost savings.

The textile surface is abrasion-resistant, leather-free and structurally reinforced by fusible Grilon yarn. It contributes towards a special level of comfort thanks to noise-reducing properties, pleasant feel, and the possibility for backlighting. At the end of the product life cycle, the integrated Grilon yarn can be completely recycled and reused together with the R-PET yarn matrix.

The Grilon hot melt adhesive yarn is available in polyamide and polyester (CoPES/PET) versions. It is 100% recyclable, Oeko-Tex and ISCC+ certified and manufactured in a CO₂ neutral way as per Scope 1 and 2.

The concept was developed in close collaboration with BMW AG, Karl Mayer Stoll Textilmaschinenfabrik, Strähle+Hess, and Inteva Products, making it possible to combine state-of-the-art textile technology with industrial serial production.

Grand Award: Recognition of outstanding performance

The SPE Automotive Awards have been held since 1992 and are among the most important awards to be presented for polymer materials. An independent jury evaluates submitted projects according to objective criteria such as innovation, technical maturity, cost-effectiveness and sustainability.

In 2025, the award was granted for the 23^rd time for the best polymer applications in the categories Body Interior, Body Exterior, Power Train, and New Mobility. Particularly innovative solutions can also receive the Innovation Award, the Grand Innovation Award, the Sustainability Award or the Grand Award for the best submission across all categories.

The fact that EMS-GRILTECH not only won in its category but also emerged as the overall winner underscores the international significance of this application.

A view to the future

This success confirms EMS-GRILTECH's leading role in the development of innovative materials for the automotive industry. “This award is a special recognition of the innovative strength and commitment of our teams. Together with our partners, we have shown that sustainability and design are not a contrast, but create new possibilities,” say those responsible at EMS-GRILTECH.