100 Stories2016 Concept Car AKXY

Creating for Tomorrow With this ambition in mind, Asahi Kasei announced their first concept car, AKXY, in 2017. Concept cars are generally manufactured by car manufacturers to be displayed in motor shows and showrooms. So why did Asahi Kasei—which is not a car manufacturer—decide to make one?

If a company that does not manufacture cars makes and announces a concept car, that alone would grab attention. Moreover, presenting the world with the concept car that is made using the collective capabilities of the Asahi Kasei Group will help show the company’s presence. The Automotive Marketing Department, which had just been created in 2016, started working toward achieving this purpose. The Marketing Department’s mission was to make a concept car that represented the cross-functionality of the company.

Although the concept car’s project team was small, only consisting of eight members, they were all talented individuals. They were some of the best human resources in the company. However, none had experience making cars, so they started looking for a partner.

As a result of the selection process, they concluded a partnership agreement with GLM, a startup that manufactures and sells electric vehicles. As a startup company, GLM’s youth and energy showed in the short production time. It took only 10 months to complete this project—from designing the car to defining its specifications. This is considered very fast even compared to car manufacturers.

With such great expectations, AKXY was finally complete. Its design is based on the world’s popular SUV model and it uses 27 of Asahi Kasei’s products. It is also drivable. Most of the products used in it can be implemented in mass-produced cars.

In addition, the biggest exhibition in Japan, Automotive Engineering Exposition, was finally drawing near. The name ‘AKXY’ was derived from “Asahi Kasei × You.” The exhibition was the place where we could finally reveal the car to YOU.

As a result of our thorough preparations, the exhibition was a great success. AKXY’s design and cutting-edge technology received great feedback. After that, AKXY traveled around various places and was displayed in exhibitions around the world and company facilities, drawing more attention.

In 2019, Asahi Kasei released AKXY POD, a vehicle interior space concept mockup that aims to propose a comfortable space in future cars and develop materials and parts with the customer. AKXY still has challenges to overcome in the future.