Top 10 windshield manufacturers

How to choose a windshield

Despite the fact that the windshield is not the most complex design and technical product, it, like other parts, has its own separate parameters and features. The editors of expert.bigbadmole.com/en/en/ highlighted the most important aspects of the choice of windshields of the domestic market, which should be followed when buying:

Originality. As a rule, the original car glass is a kind of quality standard, on which all manufacturers, one way or another engaged in their development, are equal. It is quite simple to distinguish the original from the copy at the present stage, the good is that there is a simple system of standardization of these two concepts. So, all duplicates are made under the general designation ARG, while the original frontal (and not only) glasses are labeled with the abbreviation OEM.

Recommendations on this aspect will be several:

1. if the question of value for you does not matter much, then do not hesitate to choose the glass of the original sample;
2. if the finances do have a weight, then look at the copies, based on other points of these recommendations.

Type of glass. On this basis, the product is divided into two separate groups:

1. WL is triplex glass, a feature of which is a multi-layer structure (usually three layers of organic or silicate (silicon) glass are bonded). It has long been commonplace for automakers as a standard, as it provides the best protection against various kinds of damage, has increased durability and higher performance.
2. T is a marking indicating the glass of a hot specimen. Once this type of frontal glass was the main one in the automotive industry, but later, for safety reasons, it was replaced by the above triplex. Despite its high hardness, the hardened quartz structure has a high brittleness, which is why hitting even a small pebble can lead to the complete destruction of the windshield. These models are still present on the market (albeit in small quantities), but in no case do we recommend to purchase them.

Marking The recommendation to look closely at the labeling of the product is not taken from the ceiling, and has a sufficiently strong justification. Often, manufacturers of copies do not pay attention to this “trifle”, and, either because of ignorance, or because of laziness, they manage to make mistakes in the standard description.

It is necessary to remember that any marking must contain not only information about the type of windshield, but also the manufacturer's data, date of manufacture, as well as homologation marks (product improvement to meet its accepted quality standards).

Nuances. The rules of critical thinking, aimed at identifying the smallest defects of the product by the method of "contrary," are the best assistant in matters of making any choice. Carefully look at the edges of the windshield for the presence of delaminations, burrs, splits or cracks.If there are none, estimate the thickness of the triplex: using this parameter you can determine how tough one or another variant is. Accordingly, a large thickness indicates the ability of glass to resist large shock loads, and therefore it will be much more difficult to break it. Also in favor of such options speaks and improved noise insulation, since the "package" of organics provides a better absorption (and reflection) of sound waves. The main thing is that the thickness of the glass is the same over the entire area of ​​the product.

Rating of the best manufacturers of windshields

Nomination	a place	Name of product	rating
Top Low-Cost Windshield Manufacturers	1	Xyg	4.8
	2	Starglass	4.7
	3	CSG	4.6
	4	Fyg	4.5
The best manufacturers of windshields in terms of price-quality ratio	1	Guardian	4.9
	2	Jaan	4.8
	3	NordGlass	4.7
The best manufacturers of premium windshields	1	Pilkington	4.9
	2	Saint-Gobain Sekurit	4.8
	3	Asahi Glass Company	4.8

Top Low-Cost Windshield Manufacturers

Xyg

Rating: 4.8

Stereotypical representative of the Chinese segment of the production of windshields, whose products show average quality indicators in the long term. In the recent past, this aspect was the weakest point of the company's products, but thanks to the gradual modernization of manufacturing technologies, the situation was brought to normal. The rest was originally a complete order: the percentage of defects in retail barely reached 3% of the total, and even gross surface defects (such as chips, microcracks and irregularities) were not observed as such.

According to experts, an equally important feature of XYG products is the lack of a lens effect and strict fitting of windshield dimensions to standard sizes, which are often not respected in a number of competitive companies in this segment. From the point of view of statistics, this manufacturer is the main supplier of windshields on the domestic market with an indicator of 70%, which is due to the low cost and abundance of the range.

Starglass

Rating: 4.7

The only representative of the European side in the budget segment, which has proved itself to be a very good supplier of windshields to the domestic market. The main feature of the Spanish company is that it was able to establish cooperative ties with a large number of automakers and distribute its products to manufacturing plants from around the world. Actually, this situation is also true in the case of Russia: domestic divisions of Ford, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault companies, and also VAZ take the front, side and rear windows from StarGlass to the conveyor.

According to consumers, the products of this company are distinguished by high precision of manufacturing, the practical absence of a fish eye effect, which distorts the actual image, but is subject to short-term wear. The durability of windshields with standard use leaves much to be desired, but with proper care and good luck, they can also last for 10-15 years.

CSG

Rating: 4.6

China Southern Glass is the largest Chinese holding company included in the “big three” windshield manufacturers, along with the XYG and FYG listed in the rating. It was founded in 1984 under the influence of large Western investors, strongly interested in obtaining high-quality and cheap product for delivery to conveyor lines of car assembly and the secondary market.Initially, manufacturing plants were opened in three Chinese towns located near Hong Kong. However, later, when the products were ready to enter the world market, a wave of representative offices swept over European countries.

If we talk about the quality of the provided front glass, then in this component CSG manifests itself quite well. In individual cases, users, of course, note a number of shortcomings related mainly to inaccuracies in the exposure of the main dimensions, which requires refinement from the mechanics. On the secondary, sometimes there is a marriage (its number reaches 5-7% of the total volume) with defects such as chips, small stacks of cracks and differences in thickness, good, to track it quite easily. In general, not without complaints, but quite confidently the CSG is included in the ranking of the best, even if not pressing any of the main competitors.

Fyg

Rating: 4.5

Another Chinese corporation for the manufacture of a large range of glass, the foundation of which was in 1987. In contrast to direct competitors, FYG production facilities are focused entirely on the production of glass, not only for the automotive industry, but also for industrial construction. The beauty of this approach lies in the introduction of a special quality control regime that has significantly improved the state of things in the company as it is not the current period of time. Significantly reduced the number of marriages, and an agreement was signed with a number of large European and American companies for the supply of front, side and rear glass straight to the assembly line.

According to users, the main advantage of FYG is the integration of an additional body kit into the design of glass supplied to the secondary. For a very specific car model, the manufacturer has provided a complete set of relevant parts, such as moldings, mounting under the rear-view mirror, heaters and much more. Due to the low cost and acceptable quality, this company simply could not pass by the rating of the best.

The best manufacturers of windshields in terms of price-quality ratio

Guardian

Rating: 4.9

The world leader in the production of glass for cars does not shy away from the canons, constantly throwing technological and, to some extent even revolutionary, things into the market. From the latest trends of the Guardian company, we can distinguish the integration of technology from the SunGuard division, which is a magnetron deposition on the top layer of glass. The positive effect of this step is increased protection against UV rays, giving the material a high resistance to mechanical stress and chemical environmental factors. In addition, there is a certain effect of the color of the glass, which is used by the full-time designers of automakers who cooperate with this company.

According to experts, the front windows of the Guardian - the best that the market can offer at the moment. The highest quality control both at the enterprise and during delivery, perfected logistics, care for the image - all this and much more creates a unique style of European grandee, which deserves a leading line in the ranking of the best.

Jaan

Rating: 4.8

A relatively young manufacturer of front glass for cars, which came to the market in 1991. Jaan is a typical representative of companies that prefer to canonical manufacturing to the constant search for new trends in technology. Nevertheless, even in such a “clamped” state, this segment representative continues to be interested in automakers concluding contracts for the supply of frontal, side and rear glass straight to the conveyor.

Naturally, to provide a centralized production of the entire range of products at the taken scale is simply not possible, which forced the Polish company to open several representative offices with factories in other countries. As a result - high, but not ideally stable product quality from plant to plant. This was the opinion of experts, but users differ significantly with them in these matters. Delivered to the domestic market, windshields from Jaan have an extremely low reject threshold (about 2%), which is the second best indicator after the well-known Guardian. By definition, the results are praiseworthy, but there is still a lot of room for growth.

NordGlass

Rating: 4.7

The NordGlass brand is a subsidiary of the aforementioned Polish company Jaan, which operates mainly in the Russian and Northern European market segments. It is engaged in the development of frontal glass of excellent quality, but, like all similar enterprises, it “suffers” a little from the absence of a greater degree of autonomy. Their product does not belong to the category of the original, and therefore does not go to the conveyors. However, it “processes” secondary markets very well, being almost the leader of sales in the middle segment.

The main feature of NordGlass is the full maintenance of glass at the time of production. Saying so, we mean the factory installation of moldings, mounts and other useful body kit, which is typical for specific brands of cars. However, completely custom options are also not uncommon, but they, as practice shows, are aimed at the amateur. Such things are done mainly in China (and not in Poland), however, in principle, they have no problems with quality.

The best manufacturers of premium windshields

Pilkington

Rating: 4.9

British manufacturer of premium class, with which the Guardian brand is capable of arguing. He is an old-timer in the market of frontal glasses, continuing to master the craftsmanship of manufacturing (but by the rules dictated by technology) since 1826. During this time, Pilkington was able to establish many mutually beneficial sales channels, which, subsequently, led the company to unconditional leadership in the number of deliveries of products to the conveyor lines.

Despite its age, Pilkington is always striving for innovation, investing (and quite generously) in new and original designs. So, from the latest innovations should be allocated hard work to create special thermal sensors, in the automatic mode, calibrating the temperature of the heated glass in order to increase the efficiency of vehicles. In addition, in the near future there will be a way out, of course, expensive, but revolutionary glass with a self-cleaning function.Yes, for ordinary users, the products of this company seem to be too expensive, but on a larger scale it is simply impossible to imagine a market without this supplier.

Saint-Gobain Sekurit

Rating: 4.8

The French grand production of glass for motor transport is not so much a market asset, as a full-fledged element of historical culture. According to some data, the company’s creation period fell on the 1660s, and its founder was none other than the then king of France. At that time, a small workshop was not yet profiled on such a specific industry (since there were no cars as such), but it already gained experience for the development of future activities.

In modern realities, Sekurit Saint-Gobain is a major supplier of raw materials for other companies, including Jaan mentioned in the rating. Like the eternal rival in the segment (talking about Pilkington), this brand directs huge amounts of money to research. In particular, the company's ownership includes as many as 5 research centers, providing more than 38 of its own factories around the world with new technologies. On top of that, the French are working very closely with German car brands, having a preventive agreement on the supply of glass to Audi, BMW, Mercedes assembly centers and the largest concern VAG-Group.

Asahi Glass Company

Rating: 4.8

The Japanese manufacturing company, founded in 1900, is one of the most popular auto glass manufacturers in Russia. More than a century of experience in the field has taught AGC to the fact that for the sake of profit and competitiveness in the busy segment it is simply necessary to give all the best. Based on these considerations, the bosses of the form decided to ship products not only to the conveyors of famous Japanese automakers (including Nissan, Toyota, Honda, etc.), but also to the secondary market.

By chance, a preventive choice of equipment fell on Russia, where subsequently one of the AGC factories was placed, which, among other things, was creating quite moderate in terms of glass prices for Russian-made cars. If we take the world, then the network of subsidiaries, combined with factories, has more than 350 locations, which is the biggest result among all the competitors. Needless to say, the issue of the quality of the manufactured products does not even rise - the Japanese value their honest name, guaranteeing consumers the best offers for the purchase or replacement of glass.

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Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.