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In early May 2025, Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, Mich., U.S.) visited SGL Carbon’s (Wiesbaden, Germany) site in Ort im Innkreis, Austria, to present its Q1 award — the highest honor Ford bestows on its suppliers — recognizing SGL’s work in glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) leaf springs. 

The Ford Q1 Award is a global benchmark for the best suppliers. To qualify for this status, suppliers must meet a number of criteria that are scored on a point system. Suppliers must demonstrate the highest standards of quality and reliability but also drive continuous improvement to ensure mutual success.

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“SGL Carbon’s production site in Ort im Innkreis has achieved the highest quality standard for Ford,” says Lukáš Brdlík, site STA engineer chassis at Ford Motor Co. in Prague. “SGL Carbon has been a strong partner for many years and will hopefully remain so in the future.”

SGL’s Composite Solutions business unit manufactures fiber-reinforced composite components for the automotive industry in large series in Austria, with a focus on leaf springs and battery case components.

Since 2019, the site has also been supplying Ford with GFRP leaf springs for several vehicle models, such as longitudinal leaf springs for the rear axle of the Ford Transit. For Ford, this was the first leaf spring project with composites in series worldwide.

In 2021, Ford won the SPE Innovation Award for the spring system in its F-150 pickup truck model, which also uses a leaf spring component from SGL Carbon.