ACRYLITE® Creates Striking Illuminated Details in the Interiors of the New SEAT Ibiza and SEAT Arona

Spanish car manufacturer SEAT gave its popular Ibiza compact car and Arona compact SUV models a facelift in 2021. The most striking changes to the interior include round, colorfully illuminated air vents with light guides made from a light-scattering ACRYLITE® molding compound — Röhm’s brand PMMA in the Americas.

The contours of the air vents light up in different colors depending on the equipment line. The lighting provides a splash of color and creates a pleasant ambiance when driving at night.

“Both models were due for an interior facelift, and we had the idea of using the air vents as a decorative illuminated element,” explains Carolina Gómez Sánchez, Color Designer in the Color and Trim team of SEAT. “This functional component often looks technical, and we wanted to liven it up with colorful detail.”

Alongside color, light is particularly well-suited to creating individual design with emotional appeal and it is becoming an increasingly important design factor in vehicle interiors.

“We decided to use ACRYLITE® for the contour lighting on the air vents, as its special optical properties make it the best material when it comes to interplay with light”, says the SEAT designer. The two main requirements for the material: It had to guide the light in an even intensity throughout the entire component and scatter the light homogeneously. ACRYLITE® LED LD special molding compounds fulfilled both demands.

“We developed these special products specifically for LED lighting,” says Gunther Benz, Product Manager Automotive in Röhm’s Molding Compounds business unit. “The diffuser particles in the material ensure that the light fed in via the contours is extracted homogeneously across the area of the component.”

“We are highly satisfied with the result,” emphasizes Gómez Sánchez, who can easily imagine using ACRYLITE® LED for other parts of the ambient lighting in further SEAT models.