Quickstep : QHL SecuresCRC-P Grant for development of Automotive CarbonF

ASX/Media Release 20 February 2017

Sydney, 20 February 2017 - Quickstep Holdings (ASX:QHL), the manufacturer of advanced carbon fibre composites, is pleased to announce that its Automotive Division has been successful in securing a Cooperative Research Centre Project (CRC-P) grant of $1.45m from the Australian Government, for a new project to develop 'Bespoke lightweight automotive carbon fibre composite seats'.

Carbon fibre composites remain niche products in cars primarily due to the high cost of materials and manufacturing, despite the weight reduction, improved performance and aesthetic appeal they provide. This project aims to solve these problems by combining product design with advanced manufacturing and materials research, to deliver a bespoke materials and process solution for lightweight carbon fibre seats. This will create a new benchmark in high production rates and performance at lower cost.

The grant was announced by the Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, the Honourable Craig Laundy MP, during a visit to Quickstep's New Technology facility, located at Deakin University's Waurn Ponds campus. On announcing the grant, the Assistant Minister said "Quickstep's achievements in advanced manufacturing - creating new products, processes and technologies - are an inspiration not only to other businesses but also our future engineers and scientists."

David Marino, the CEO and Managing Director of Quickstep said, "We are very honoured to receive this CRC-P grant and believe the outcomes from this project will lead to global seat parts supply opportunities for Quickstep. The market for bespoke lightweight carbon fibre seats is growing, particularly with the accelerated growth of luxury and electric vehicles in a number of the global markets we are targeting."

The CRC-P project will run for a period of three years in cooperation with a global automotive seating supplier and Deakin University, who are both contributing Project Partners in this CRC-P project. The global seating and interior systems supplier, with operations in multiple international markets, will provide the project with seating design, specifications and testing capability.

Deakin University's Carbon Nexus Research Centre for carbon fibre and composites will provide its expertise in materials development and testing, including lower-cost carbon fibre development, resin formulation and process simulation and validation to the CRC-P project. Quickstep will bring to the project its capabilities in developing advanced composite solutions, providing its advanced composites technologies to manufacture composite parts using its patented Qure and RST processes.

The global automotive seating systems market is a significant product segment in the automotive sector, currently valued at about US$67 billion p.a., with around 93.5 million vehicle seat sets forecast to be manufactured and supplied to vehicle producers globally in CY2017. Lighter weight seat systems offer significant advantages to manufacturers of luxury and performance vehicles, SUVs and electric vehicles and represent an attractive target segment for the CRC-P project partners.

Principal address: 361 Milperra Road Tel: (02) 9774 0300 ASX Code: QHL

Bankstown Airport NSW 2200 Fax: (02) 9771 0256

www.quickstep.com.au Email: info@quickstep.com.au

-ENDS-

Quickstep Holdings Limited (ASX: QHL) is an Australian publicly listed company, at the forefront of advanced composites manufacturing and technology development. Quickstep is the largest independent aerospace-grade advanced composite manufacturer in Australia, partnering with some of the world's largest Aerospace/Defence organisations including: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Airbus.

Quickstep operates from state-of-the-art aerospace manufacturing facilities at Bankstown Airport in Sydney, NSW; a newly established production site for automotive parts manufacturing and R&D/ process development centre in Waurn Ponds, Victoria; and a development and customer support operation in Munich, Germany.

Quickstep is an approved supplier for the international F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program - the largest military aerospace program in the world, valued in excess of US$300 billion worldwide. The company has also been selected by Lockheed Martin as the sole supplier of composite wing flaps for the C-130J "Super Hercules" military transport aircraft.

Quickstep has developed significant capabilities and expertise in the production of automotive and aerospace grade, advanced composite components, using both conventional autoclave-based manufacturing and leading out-of¬-autoclave production technologies (developed in-house and patented).

David Marino - Managing Director Ashley Rambukwella / Robert Williams

Quickstep Holdings Limited Financial & Corporate Relations

Telephone: +61-2 9774 0300 Telephone: +61 2 8264 1004 / 0407 231 282

or +61 2 8264 1003 / 0468 999 369

E: dmarino@quickstep.com.au E: a.rambukwella@fcr.com.au or r.williams@fcr.com.au

or:

Visit www.quickstep.com.au

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