- Overview
- Areas of Application
- Automotive Interiors
- Body-in-White
- Chassis and Wheels
- Electronic Control Unit
- EV Battery and ePowertrain
- Exteriors and Glass
- Human Machine Interface (HMI)
- Propulsion and Emissions
- Sensors and Cameras
- View All Areas of Applications
- Product Solutions
- Abrasives
- Acoustics
- Attachment Tape and Fasteners
- Automotive Structural Adhesives
- Boron Nitride Cooling Fillers
- Films
- Friction Shims
- Glass Bubbles
- View All Product Solutions
- Resources
- Support
The ultimate passenger experience starts with addressing your specific challenges. 3M is here to help.
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3M solutions for automotive interior design
The vehicle interior is the focal point of tomorrow’s vehicles. Passenger comfort is now passenger experience, whether the vehicle is electrified, autonomous or shared. Stunning design is the beginning. It means more durable, quieter and more sustainable automotive interiors designed to complement the vehicles and their occupants.
As the manufacturing landscape evolves, design freedom and production efficiencies are essential to automotive interiors. Our range of solutions can help you bond with less steps, reduce road and tire noise, enable true differentiation with less weight, extend EV range, and more. Find solutions for key applications like automotive headliners, door panels, interior pillars, instrument panels and seats.
With more than 100 years in the automotive industry, 3M is here as your go-to solutions provider. Our global presence and multiple technology platforms mean we’re ready help, wherever you need it.
Meeting the challenges in automotive interiors
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New bonds for better interiors
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Vehicle interiors are evolving to accommodate electrification and increased shared mobility, requiring more durable and replaceable materials, storage compartments, instrument panels, and interactive infotainment centers.
You face challenges like bonding dissimilar or complex materials, odor reduction and the desire for optimizing package space, all with cost efficiency and sustainability in mind. Tried and true bonding methods such as bolts, rivets and spot welding may not be optimal for these modern needs.
With our extensive experience in automotive bonding and joining, 3M can help. We offer single-coated, double-coated, thin bond and wire harness tapes, hot melts, reclosable fasteners, and more — all so you can address your most pressing challenges, and even streamline assembly and production.
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3M solutions for bonding and joining in automotive interiors
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Help reduce VOCs/odor in cabin
A focus on sustainability along with evolving global regulations and OEM standards is driving the need for bonding and joining solutions featuring low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and/or low odor emission.
Applicable for different automotive interior components, 3M offers thin bond tapes, reclosable fasteners, foam tapes and water-based spray adhesives to help you reach your goals.
3M™ Dual Lock™ Reclosable Fasteners for OEM and Tier
3M™ Fastbond™ Foam Adhesive 100NF
3M™ Fast Tack Water Based Adhesive 1000NF
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Replace mechanical fasteners
Replace screws, nails, snaps and rivets with a positive-locking blind fastener, 3M™ Dual Lock™ Reclosable Fastener. This lightweight fastener can be mixed and matched for a range of closure strengths, and holds its strength even under repeated use — in fact, it can be opened and re-closed up to 1000 times in higher-cycle applications.
Bond a variety of materials
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Add reliability and efficiencyFeaturing pressure-sensitive adhesives that can be combined with a wide variety of interior materials including hard-to-bond plastics, foam and fabrics, 3M™ Adhesive Transfer Tape can add reliability and efficiency almost anywhere in the automotive interior. It is designed for thin, permanent and reliable bonds without mechanical fasteners and can be converted into precise shapes for the most effective, invisible bonds.
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Bond without curingA double-sided, acrylic adhesive that provides excellent bonds to a wide range of automotive interior substrates, from plastics, foams and fabrics to a variety of metals, lightweight 3M™ Double-Sided Tape is a pressure-sensitive adhesive that bonds instantly without curing. A variety of release liners add strength and stability for laminating and die cutting, and with a different adhesive on each side, these tapes are excellent for bonding dissimilar materials.
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Eliminate clamps, fixturing and cooling
Excellent for small joint, mounting and trim attachment, interior door panels, headliners, and large surface lamination for automotive interiors, heat-resistant 3M™ Hot Melt Adhesive liquefies to bond to a variety of substrates, including hard-to-bond surfaces like polyethylene, polypropylene and other plastics. Available in low- and high-temperature versions, this versatile and durable adhesive cools, hardens and reaches bond strength in seconds, eliminating clamps, fixturing and cooling.
Explore automated process solutions
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Boost manufacturing efficiencyEnjoy a faster, simplified bonding solution with less waste. Stretch release means less waste and allows faster rework, and there isn't liner waste or die-cut waste, as there is with tape. Specifically made for automation, 3M™ VHB™ Extrudable Tape GP provides excellent adhesion to many substrates — in some cases with little or no surface preparation.
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Rethink tape application processBoost speed, quality and efficiency of assembly with RoboTape™ for 3M™ Tape, our pre-configured tape automation system. Conquer high volume throughput with fewer operators and changeovers, and take advantage of the immediate handling strength at scale to eliminate work-in-process inventory — this may include cost savings, floor space savings or shorter cycle times.
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More quiet, comfortable interiors for the road ahead
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Controlling sound and temperature inside the vehicle is one of the biggest challenges for OEMs. Due to electrification, sources of unwanted noise in the cabin are changing, especially as road and tire noise is no longer drowned out by the engine. Effective noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) mitigation involves much more than just gap filling. Managing cabin temperature also looks different — not only is it about passenger comfort, but it’s also about preserving power to help extend EV range.
3M delivers with acoustics and thermal management solutions that help deliver quiet, comfortable and more efficient interiors. Materials include absorbers, barriers, damping materials and more, as well as a variety of solutions for buzz, squeak and rattle (BSR) mitigation.
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3M solutions for acoustics and thermal management in automotive interiors
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Mitigate low-frequency noise
Enjoy excellent mid frequency (500-2000 Hz) absorption without sacrificing performance in high frequencies (>2000 Hz). An absorber and barrier in one, 3M™ Flexile Acoustic Material FAB Series leverages acoustic particles and a fibrous structure to address current and emerging NVH challenges in a single, non-molded layer. This material is lighter weight than typical barriers, which has the potential to help increase range and improve fuel efficiency. It’s also thin — allowing you more flexibility in your designs and the potential to increase cabin space.
3M™ Flexile Acoustic Material FAB Series can be combined with 3M™ Thinsulate™ Acoustic Insulation to provide a high-performing decoupled solution.
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Excellent acoustic absorption per unit weight
Maintain comfortable interior temperatures regardless of the environment outside. High-performance 3M™ Thinsulate™ Acoustic Insulation is is designed to absorb noise and dissipate heat.
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Reduce vibration and structure-borne noise
Get high NVH performance from smaller parts, at a much lower weight than traditional constrained layer damping materials. 3M™ Engineered Damping Material damps structure-borne noise even in designs using lightweight substrates such as composites. It is thin, flexible and conformable, and features a low-density engineered stem web standoff layer. This adhesive-backed and customizable material installs more easily and cleanly, and in more places vs. butyl or bitumen.
Battle buzz, squeak and rattle
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Your “quick fix” solution
- Nothing diminishes passenger experience like unwanted noise. 3M can help. Address buzz, squeak and rattle (BSR) throughout the automotive interior with solutions that are ready to be designed in or used as a “quick fix”.
- Available for a wide range of applications, explore solutions like adhesive transfer tapes that help bond metals, plastics and foams in thin, hard-to-reach places, double-sided tapes for dissimilar materials, wire harness tapes for irregular surfaces and plastic reclosable fasteners.
- 3M™ Adhesive Transfer Tape
- 3M™ Double-Sided Tape
- 3M™ Dual Lock™ Reclosable Fastener
- 3M™ Wire Harness Tape
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Drive sustainability goals through your interior
You’ve set ambitious sustainability goals; we’re here to help you achieve them. From innovative technologies and products, to expert application engineers and evolving manufacturing practices, incorporating 3M into your design process can add up to meaningful progress helping reduce carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency and minimize environmental impact.
3M offers many solutions for automotive interiors designed to help you work toward your sustainability targets. These solutions include acoustic insulation made with recycled content, additives for lightweighting, solutions for bonding materials that contain recycled content and more.
3M solutions for sustainability in automotive interiors
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Achieve lighter plastics — part by part, design by design
Lighter parts help enable the opportunity to extend EV range. 3M™ Glass Bubbles are tiny glass microspheres which are easily incorporated into a wide range of polymers to replace heavy fillers such as calcium carbonate for durable plastic parts at a lighter weight. Glass bubbles are designed to survive injection molding and extrusion and can be modified to suit nearly any density requirement for automotive plastic parts.
Explore ways to help maximize EV battery range
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Improve power efficiency while increasing comfort
Designing with more glass? Use it to your advantage. Decrease reliance on air conditioning, increase power efficiency and improve passenger comfort with 3M™ Ultra-Clear Solar Film (UCSF).
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Excellent acoustic absorption per unit weight
Lightweight and compressible, 3M™ Thinsulate™ Acoustic Insulation is excellent for gap filling voids in pillars, behind trim panels, in headliners, instrument panels, consoles and doors.
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Help reduce VOCs
Evolving government regulations targeting air quality inside passenger vehicle cabins and higher OEM standards are fueling global demand for solutions with low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
3M offers thin bond tapes, reclosable fasteners, foam tapes and water-based spray adhesives to help you meet requirements.
3M™ Dual Lock™ Reclosable Fastener
3M™ Fastbond™ Contact Adhesive 2000NF
3M™ Fastbond™ Foam Adhesive 100NF
3M™ Fast Tack Water Based Adhesive 1000NF
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Increase use of renewable resources
Enjoy acoustic performance materials designed with at least 15% renewable resources. Leveraging the synergy between acoustic particles and a fibrous structure to address difficult-to-treat noises, 3M™ Flexile Acoustic Material FAB Series is a lightweight, single-layer material that features low VOCs, low fogging and low odor*.
In an effort to help you meet the ever-changing governmental regulations and OEM standards, we’re exploring opportunities to add more post-consumer recycled materials to our product solutions manufactured around the world.
*Odor results only applicable to 3M™ Flexile Acoustic Material FAB0910 and 3M™ Flexile Acoustic Material FAB1210.
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Bond challenging surfaces
Proposed end-of-life vehicle (ELV) regulations* from the European Commission has led OEM and Tier customers to develop new interior plastics with post-consumer recycled content. 3M offers products developed for solutions for a wide variety of surfaces, including low surface energy.
3M™ Adhesive Transfer Tape 9472LE
3M™ Double Coated Tape 93020LE
Need more information? 3M can help customers understand how and where this regulation will require change in attachment applications and provide testing to make sure we meet new and existing specifications.
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Get the most important tools for great design — possibilities
The interior space is about much more than just making a great first impression. For OEMs, well-designed interiors are central to differentiation. For drivers and passengers, they are opportunities for new and more personalized experiences. That means optimizing every possible space in the interior for customer convenience and comfort. It means selecting materials that hold up, deliver plenty of options, perform in smaller, thinner spaces, enable lighter weight and above all — look fantastic.
3M can help. Our interior films are a simple, effective solution to attain the look and feel of luxury materials without the extra cost or weight.
3M solutions for personalization in automotive interiors
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Top off your trim with a variety of colors, textures
Replace heavier metal parts with lighter plastics — and achieve stunning finishes that really seal the deal for consumers. 3M™ Interior Trim Film is available in a range of patterns, colors and design-relevant haptics. The three-dimensional overlay method (TOM) application makes for borderless designs, sharper corners and consistency across complex shapes. These adhesive films are excellent for trim, door panels, dashboard components and other areas throughout the automobile interior.
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Different interior bonding challenges require different solutions based on specific manufacturer needs. Let’s find the right double-sided tape for your OEM specs.
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3M combines a century of automotive knowledge with extensive consumer electronics expertise to provide innovative solutions that help automotive designers and engineers deliver an excellent in-cabin experience. See how 3M technology can help you tackle your toughest challenges.
3M is your science partner in building the future of automotive interiors
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100+ years of automotive experienceWe understand the challenges in every area of the vehicle interior.
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Multiple technology platforms and solutionsWe offer adhesives, tapes, films, acoustic insulation, damping materials and more.
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CollaborationLet’s work on the materials you need today, and help develop tomorrow’s solutions.
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Global presenceWe’re ready whenever you are — and wherever you are
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Let's talk about interiors
Step inside. Our 3M experts are dedicated to collaboration on the best solution for your unique challenges in automotive interiors. Let’s discuss how 3M material science solutions can help you meet your specifications.
