From a single part to the body-in-white structure

Ever since cars have existed, we have been developing, producing, and supplying metal parts—and, for the vehicles of today, hybrid structures—for the automotive industry. From a manufacturer of individual parts, we have grown into an internationally recognized development supplier of components and body-in-white structures.

KIRCHHOFF Automotive provides vehicles worldwide with extra stability and safety.
But we also offer our customers much more than that: we make a considerable contribution to the growth of their competitiveness.

The crucial cost and logistical advantages of our streamlined, medium-sized company structure with international presence serves a single purpose: to drive the market success of our customers and safeguard our innovative strength and earning power. This is our pledge worldwide.

13-05-25

Awarded the Swedish Steel Prize

Together with Volkswagen AG, KIRCHHOFF Automotive as SIBORA development partner has won the prestigious Swedish Steel Award 2025 for the modified BQP hot forming process and the steel grade “SIBORA”! The award was presented on May 8 in Stockholm by the Swedish steel company SSAB.

Award-winning innovation: BQP process and SIBORA

They prevailed against three strong international competitors who were also among the finalists. The jury recognized our modified hot forming process (BQP process) and the revolutionary silicon-boron steel grade “SIBORA”, which we developed in close cooperation with Volkswagen.

The innovation impressed with its outstanding properties:

Increased safety: SIBORA material shows improved crash safety due to higher energy absorption
Sustainability: simultaneous reduction of the body mass
Unique material properties: High strength in the hot formed state with improved residual formability due to bainite and metastable retained austenite components
Production-ready technology: Tests on prototypes under real production conditions have already been successful

For years, the Swedish Steel Prize has recognized outstanding engineering achievements, collaborations and steel innovations that contribute to a better and more sustainable world.

“This award impressively confirms our innovative strength and our ability to develop pioneering solutions for the automotive industry. The successful collaboration with Volkswagen and other development partners shows what is possible when leading companies pool their expertise,” commented Technology Development Senior Specialist Markus Löcker, who accepted the award on behalf of KIRCHHOFF Automotive.

Outlook

The award-winning technology opens up new possibilities for the design of lighter and at the same time safer vehicle structures. The first prototypes have already been successfully tested and we are working intensively on further optimization for series production.

The Swedish Steel Prize 2025 is a confirmation of our corporate strategy of actively shaping the mobility of the future through innovation and sustainability.