The Dryflex Interior from Hexpol - thermoplastic elastomers tailored for car cabins

By Julian Reed, ad hoc news Classics & Longsellers Desk. Reviewed July 05, 2026, 7:15 PM ET. Details in the imprint.

Dryflex Interior from Hexpol is the kind of material you only notice when it fails: a steering wheel that gets sticky in summer, a door trim that smells like solvent on day three of a road trip. Sit in a mid-range sedan with a clean, neutral cabin and soft-touch plastics that stay quiet over potholes, and there is a good chance you are touching a formulation not far from Dryflex Interior.

What Dryflex Interior actually is

Dryflex Interior is a range of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) designed specifically for automotive interior parts, from instrument panels and door trims to cup holder inserts and sealed storage bins. These materials aim to combine a soft, rubber-like feel with the processability of plastics such as polypropylene, which matters when suppliers run high-volume injection molding and extrusion lines for dashboards and center consoles.

According to Hexpol, the Dryflex Interior series was developed to meet tough requirements for emissions and odor in vehicle cabins, including volatile organic compound (VOC) limits and fogging specifications that major automakers now treat as non-negotiable. The company highlights grades with low VOC and optimized odor performance, helping car makers hit targets for interior air quality under test protocols such as VDA 278 and related OEM standards. On the production side, the materials are designed to run on standard thermoplastic molding equipment, which means Tier 1 suppliers can avoid special tooling and capitalize on existing capacity.

Use cases in real car cabins

Talk to an interior engineer at a Detroit supplier, and Dryflex Interior shows up not as a brand name to brag about, but as one of a couple dozen line items in a material specification sheet. It can be used wherever a soft-touch surface is needed over a rigid structure, such as overmolded grips on grab handles, instrument panel skins, or the flexible sections of center console lids that need to withstand thousands of open-close cycles without cracking or discoloration.

In practice, an SUV door pocket that flexes silently when loaded with water bottles is a typical job for this class of TPE. The material has to stay stable from cold winters in Minnesota to heat-soaked parking lots in Arizona, resist sunscreen and coffee spills, and keep color fade under control under UV exposure through side windows. That combination of requirements is precisely the niche Hexpol targets with Dryflex Interior, offering different hardness levels, gloss grades, and colorability options so designers can tune the look and feel of the cabin for each model line.

Material science and regulations

Technically, Dryflex Interior belongs to a wider Dryflex TPE portfolio that Hexpol markets for automotive, consumer, and industrial uses. While the company does not disclose full formulations, the interior grades are typically based on styrenic or olefinic block copolymers, mixed with plasticizers, fillers, and stabilizers to achieve a specific hardness, flexibility, and surface behavior. These formulations are tuned to adhere well when overmolded onto substrates such as polypropylene, which is common in dashboards and interior trims.

One recurring phrase in Hexpol’s materials is "low fogging" for interior applications. Fogging refers to the tendency of volatile compounds to condense on cabin surfaces like windshields, causing a haze that drivers can see when sunlight hits at the wrong angle. Automakers run standard fogging tests, often under the VDA regime, and reject materials that release too many volatiles at elevated temperatures. Dryflex Interior is pitched as meeting these tests while keeping odor at a level that both OEMs and end-customers can tolerate, a story that matters for US buyers who increasingly factor smell and perceived air quality into their impression of vehicle quality.

US angle and supply chain dynamics

Hexpol is headquartered in Sweden but its automotive materials business is global, with production and development sites in Europe, North America, and Asia. For US-market vehicles, the actual material supply often flows through Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers who source compounds, run molding operations, and deliver finished parts to automaker plants in states like Michigan, Tennessee, or Texas. Dryflex Interior grades can be compounded near those plants, which reduces logistics costs and allows quick tweaks when an OEM requests a change to gloss or color behavior.

At a practical level, this means a US buyer of a mainstream crossover may be touching a Hexpol material without realizing it. An instrument panel skin that feels slightly rubbery but doesn’t pick up dust too aggressively, or a center console side that stays pleasantly neutral to the nose even after the car has been left in the sun, reflects a chain of spec decisions where cabin VOC limits and odor tests have become part of the procurement checklist. Interior program managers at automakers, such as an imaginary "Laura Chen" at a US OEM leading a mid-cycle refresh, will benchmark options from multiple compounders, and Hexpol’s Dryflex Interior has to compete on measurable criteria like emissions, scratch resistance, and durability, not just price.

Pricing, grades, and customization

Dryflex Interior is not sold as a boxed consumer product with a sticker price in a retail catalog. Instead, Hexpol offers the material as part of customized supply agreements with processors, and prices depend on factors like volume, grade complexity, and additive packages. US investors and procurement teams tend to track these materials indirectly, via the performance of the broader specialty polymers segment and the health of automotive build rates. When North American vehicle production rises, demand for interior TPEs generally follows.

Within the portfolio, Hexpol may deliver different hardness grades measured on the Shore A or Shore D scale, allowing designers to specify softer touch for armrest areas and firmer surfaces for structural elements that need robust impact resistance. Color masterbatch integration is another lever; many OEMs now expect interior materials to support subtle variations in gray and black, as well as contrasting highlight strips in colors that match exterior paint options or brand palettes. While Dryflex Interior often hides under a thin layer of paint or texture, the base material still has to accept pigments and stabilizers without jeopardizing its emissions profile.

Longevity as a classic product line

From a "classics and longsellers" perspective, Dryflex Interior sits in a mature, persistent niche. Automotive interior TPEs are not the sort of product that jumps in and out of fashion with a quarterly tech cycle; they evolve through incremental formulation changes based on new regulatory demands or OEM targets. Hexpol has been active in thermoplastic elastomers for years, and the Dryflex brand has become a steady contributor to its revenue mix, particularly in regions where automotive manufacturing remains strong.

Consider how cabin expectations have shifted for US drivers over the past decade. The move from hard, creaky plastics to soft-touch surfaces and quieter interiors was gradual, but once buyers got used to it, backsliding became unacceptable. Material suppliers such as Hexpol have had to maintain and update series like Dryflex Interior so that even mid-price vehicles offer tactile and visual comfort that used to be reserved for premium segments. As a result, the product family has grown into a quietly important enabler of perceived quality.

Company context and stock view

Hexpol is an international polymer group with a focus on advanced rubber compounds, thermoplastic elastomers, and associated process technology. Its customer base spans automotive, building, consumer, and industrial sectors, with automotive interior materials like Dryflex Interior occupying a strategic slot close to the vehicle value chain but far from consumer brand consciousness. For holders of Hexpol stock on European venues (Xetra/EUR, ISIN SE0011624077), the Dryflex Interior line and related TPE portfolios represent recurring business tied to global automotive production rather than headline-grabbing product launches.

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information is provided without warranty; prices and availability may change at short notice. Not investment advice and not a buy or sell recommendation. Securities trading carries risks up to total loss.

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