Post Time：Nov 21,2008Classify:Glass QuotationView：680
LOS ANGELES, November 19, 2008 – Five new Ford Motor Company products fitted with Carlite®’s noise-blocking SoundScreen™ windshields will be unveiled at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show: the 2010 Ford Fusion and Fusion Hybrid, the 2010 Mercury Milan and Milan Hybrid and the 2010 Lincoln MKZ. Media previews for the show are Nov. 19 – 20 and it is open to the public Nov. 21 – 30.
Carlite’s SoundScreen technology is a key component of Ford’s drive to make vehicle cabins quieter. SoundScreen windshields use a sheet of speciallydeveloped acoustic vinyl sandwiched between two layers of glass. It reduces noise levels by as much as 6 dB at certain frequencies and 2 to 3 dB overall, meaning conversations are clearer and more intelligible.
SoundScreen technology also saves weight – as much as seven pounds per vehicle – because the glass is thinner than in conventional windshields while offering superior noise-reducing performance.
“The ability to keep wind and road noise from entering the passenger cabin while reducing weight is why every year more Ford products are being equipped with SoundScreen windshields at the factory,” said John Heller, vice president of automotive glass sales for Carlite.
The first Ford products launched with SoundScreen glass were the 2007 Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Lincoln MKX. It’s also standard equipment on the Mercury Mariner, Lincoln MKS, the Ford Flex, F-150 Platinum edition, Focus and Escape.
The results have been a steady improvement in customer-reported quality. In fact, complaints about wind noise in Ford products went from second-worst in the industry in 2003 to the best in 2007, beating Toyota. That's according to RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., which conducts customer surveys for Ford.
Professional test drivers also are talking about the exceptional quietness of newer Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products. For example, Popular Mechanics magazine called the cabin of the 2010 F-150 “luxury-car quiet,” while the Los Angeles Times said the 2009 Ford Flex offers “deep-piled serenity and a cottony ambience, thanks to a soundproofing program that includes extensive use of acoustic glass.”
The 2010 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ go on sale in early 2009.
About Carlite
For more than 80 years, Carlite® has been recognized as the premium brand in original equipment and replacement automotive glass. Carlite products are factory-installed in every new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury product in North America, and Carlite replacement glass for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury applications is made to the same exacting specifications as the original products.
The parent company of Carlite is Zeledyne, whose products include automotive windshields, tempered body glass and tempered backlites, as well as Versalux™ float glass, which is a premium line of tinted and reflective coated glass for architectural construction and transportation products. Headquartered in Allen Park, Mich., with float and fabrication facilities in Tulsa, Okla., Nashville, Tenn. and Juarez, Mexico, Zeledyne serves automotive and architectural glass markets worldwide.
Source: Carlite Author: shangyi
