Bucci Composites expands automotive production capabilities with facility addition, new high-ton presses

Bucci Composites operates two facilities focused on producing high-quality carbon fiber composite parts for the high-end automotive market. In 2024, the company completed an 80,000-square-foot extension to its main facility, shown here as the white rectangular building attached to the back of the original building. As part of its sustainability initiatives, Bucci has also installed solar panels on its facility roofs. Source (All Images) | Bucci Composites

Automotive composites fabricator Bucci Composites (Faenza, Italy) was founded in 1988 in Italy’s “Motor Valley” — an area of the country known for its high number of high-end vehicle OEMs like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani, Dallara, Ducati and more.

CompositesWorld (CW) brand VP Jeff Sloan visited Bucci Composites’ facility in 2021. More recently, Bucci Composites was also recognized as a 2024 CW Top Shop, meaning the company had one of the highest scores on a variety of performance metrics compared to other companies that take the annual benchmarking survey. 

Given this recognition, CW checked in with Bucci Composites to learn about the company’s latest accomplishments and plans.

End markets served and production capabilities

Today, Bucci Composites employs 360 people — 290 blue collar workers and 70 white collar workers — working in two facilities.

With a focus on carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) components, the company’s production capabilities include compression molding, high-pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM), vacuum-assisted RTM (VARTM), sheet and bulk molding compound (SMC, BMC), hand layup and autoclave cure. For larger-series parts, Bucci uses compression molding with or without its HP-RTM capabilities. For limited series production runs of 2,000 or less where investment in tooling for the press doesn’t make sense, autoclave technology is used.

Bucci also offers finishing operations such as milling and painting, as well as ultrasonic nondestructive testing.

Bucci offers serial production services from layup to finishing and inspection, and for both out-of-autoclave and autoclave (top image) manufacture. The company incorporates automation where applicable, including the pictured (bottom image) bonding operation of front hood components. 

As Sloan reported in 2021, Bucci Composites got its start producing CFRP components for Formula 1 vehicles, and has grown to produce parts for a variety of automotive OEMs and even other end markets like aerospace, marine and industrial.

According to Andrea Bedeschi, general manager at Bucci Composites, the company’s bread and butter continues to be the high-end automotive market, with much of its business in producing CFRP exterior automotive body panels for high-end vehicle series of 4,000 to 10,000 cars per year. Serving the high-end market, he notes that Bucci does not try to compete on price — but has established its reputation in providing the best quality and reliability.

“Our customers are well-known Italian and European OEMs, and they trust us, which is really important. We’re in a very nice place in terms of location because our customers are here, and we’ve been able to grow — not just as an automotive supplier but as a composites company here in Europe. But we want to be better-known in the U.S. and around the world as well,” Bedeschi says. It’s worth noting that Bucci Composites is part of the larger Bucci Industries group, which operates a U.S. site in Charlotte, North Carolina, that develops automation for CNC machines.

Bedeschi adds, “To be recognized as a Top Shop is important for us to be recognized in the U.S. market.”

Double the facility size, three new high-ton presses

In 2024, Bucci Composites completed a 2-year building expansion. Previously, the company operated two 80,000 square-foot facilities about a kilometer apart from each other — after doubling the size of the main facility, the total is now up to 240,000 square feet.

In its new facility expansion, the company added two additional compression presses based on customer demand, bringing its total to five. 

Three new high-tonnage compression presses with injection capabilities for HP-RTM have been installed in the new space, bringing the company’s total to five presses currently, all supplied by Cannon (Caronno Pertusella, Italy). The new equipment includes two 1,500-ton presses and one 2,500-ton press. “More and more customers are asking for parts manufactured with press technology,” Bedeschi explains.

The new facility also features an 800-ton preforming press to support medium- and high-volume production. For smaller-volume production runs, or any situation in which the presses do not make sense, the company also operates seven autoclaves.

Carbon fiber wheels

One of the developments Sloan reported on in 2021 was Bucci Composites’ work toward carbon fiber wheels. Over the last year, Bucci has continued this development, launching a 20-inch center lock wheel for Porsche aftermarket vehicles in October 2024. The company is also developing a 21-inch wheel expected to launch to the European market by summer 2025, and a 22-inch wheel is currently in production for the “Apex” special edition version of the Bentley Bentayga.

Bucci continues to work on production and development of its fully CFRP wheels for limited series and aftermarket vehicles, aiming for larger series production in future.

“Carbon fiber wheels are very difficult, sophisticated, critical components to manufacture,” Bedeschi says. “We’re targeting the aftermarket segment at the moment to start out with, and specifically Porsche since there are so many vehicles already out there on the road.”

He notes that the company is in talks with OEMs to produce wheels for series vehicles. “The fact that we are having these conversations at all shows that we’ve achieved a level of knowledge and reputation in this market, which is really important.”

Future potential: EVs, eVTOLs

Bucci Composites, like many in the automotive market, is also looking to the potential growth of battery-electric vehicles (BEV or EV) and opportunities for composites in battery enclosures and other components.

However, Bedeschi acknowledges, “It’s a strange period for the EV market. In Europe, the automotive market is struggling in this sector, because customers do not want to pay for a more expensive vehicle. I think we’re not quite at the development level that the market expected at this point, in terms of battery life and other things.”

Despite current challenges, “I still believe the EV will be the future, though maybe we as an industry will need to change some things in its development,” Bedeschi says.

For companies like Bucci Composites, opportunities in EVs are not limited to electric cars — Bedeschi sees a lot of potential for growth in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) market as well for automotive suppliers. “I think in the next 5 years we’ll see big changes — we might be at a slow point in this moment, but it won’t last forever,” he notes. “Which means we need to continue to develop and to put more technology into it.”

Growing sustainability initiatives

Sustainability has also become an important part of Bucci Composites’ growth the past few years. “In Europe, OEMs are asking us to communicate for each quotation the carbon footprint of the parts we are manufacturing, because they have zero CO₂ emissions goals to reach by 2035 and so they are asking their suppliers to follow the same rules and to be as green as possible,” Bedeschi explains.

As part of these efforts, the company has installed 1.5 megawatts of solar panel capacity on its facility roofs. This measure also reduces electricity costs — “finding ways to reduce both your carbon footprint and costs is key,” Bedeschi adds. The company plans to switch to biofuel power for its heating by fall 2025.

Energy-efficient processing is also a strong focus. Bucci Composites uses HP-RTM as an alternative to high-energy traditional compression molding where possible.

The company is also investing in technologies for recycling composite material scrap, working with local waste management treatment company Herambiente and other partners. Natural fibers such as hemp or flax, or resins derived from renewable sources, are also used where it makes sense to do so. “These materials are not only biodegradable, but often require less energy to produce,” Bedeschi adds.

Bucci manufactures a variety of components for automotive customers and other end markets, including fenders (pictured), roofs, engine bonnets, splitters and some interior components.

Importance of education and collaboration

Education is also a key focus, and Bucci Composites has developed partnerships with local universities and research centers to work on projects and training programs that both increase the company’s knowledge and help train tomorrow’s workforce.

“Sometimes it can be difficult for companies to talk with universities, because industry and academia speak different languages, but it’s important to strengthen this connection because we need that knowledge base and education in our workforce,” Bedeschi says. “We need engineers, scientists and chemists so we have a good cooperation to increase our knowledge.”

Bucci Composites is also one of the main sponsors of the C-HUB, an infrastructure that, in cooperation with the regional High Technology Network, brings together the research expertise in the area and acts as a single point of reference for companies aiming to work with Motor Valley companies.

What makes Bucci Composites a CW Top Shop? The company has been growing significantly in size, capabilities, applications, sustainability initiatives and partnerships in recent years — but ultimately, Bedeschi emphasizes, “We’ve discovered that the secret is the people. We work with technology and we manufacture high-quality products, but we need to invest in people and teaching people to solve problems, use the technology and develop that passion for the products we produce.”