Cooperation between carbon fibre manufacturers and automotive OEMs Gearing up and auto builders share the same interests and risks. They have begun to form partnerships (Figure 2) and to invest, a trend that should continue to intensify. In June, Automobili Lamborghini (part of the Audi group, which itself is now part of the Volkswagen group) inaugurated the Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory, its carbon research centre in Seattle. Then in September, it signed a memoran- dum of understanding (MoU) with Mitsubishi Rayon Co. for the potential joint development of automotive carbon-fibre composites. While Lamborghini already has a long experience in the use of carbon (2016 marked a 30- No112 April - May 2017 year milestone), it is clearly directing even more of its efforts towards composites. Also in September, Teijin announced the acquisition of Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), an American suppli- / jec composites magazine 21