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This paper will provide an overview of the need, requirements, and constraints governing the development and application of polymer composites in automotive body components. It will discuss the efforts underway to lead and support the technology developments required for the cost-effective application of these new materials in mass-produced vehicles. The requirements and constraints of customer-driven, mass-produced, energy-efficient vehicles with uncompromised cost, capacity and performance, drive careful consideration of an injection-molded thermoplastic approach to a composite automotive body. Recent progress with this approach will be reported and some next steps examined.