Forecast the market uptake of advanced automotive body panel materials and establish the latest trends in this sector to help save weight and improve fuel efficiency, with this brand new report from just-auto...

This first-edition report reviews the key market drivers for vehicle panels. The motives behind most advances in process or product technology in exterior trim and body components are to improve the car’s overall appearance, save weight, improve fuel efficiency, simplify installation and above all reduce cost.

Following Chapter 1's introduction, Chapter 2 (Body structure and materials) examines trends in the vehicle’s body panels and the use of certain materials. There are basically four materials used in a vehicle body: steel, aluminium, plastics and carbon fibre/composites. This report therefore examines the use of each material in turn, reviewing some recent technical advances. It includes exclusive and extensive interviews with Corus, Stadco, JSP and 3M.

Extracts:

just-auto: Are you seeing more use of high tensile steels? Consequently, could we see more vehicles coming which are lighter but use only steel?

Corus: The trend in the increased use of higher strength steels such as 600 and 800MPa material and ultra-high strength steels such as boron steel is clear, as are the weight-saving benefits. The challenge for industry is for better collaboration of OEMs and their supply chain to exploit these materials. We will certainly see lighter all-steel vehicles – especially in the highly cost-driven A, B and C segments.

just-auto: Although the manufacture of body panels and various assemblies have historically formed part of the vehiclemaker’s in-house activities, these parts are increasingly being outsourced. In these difficult economic times, do you see that continuing?

Stadco: As the volumes have taken a downturn, the OEMs have had to juggle with the requirements of their own organisation and capacity with the requirements of the suppliers to stay in business. Long-term we see no shift away from body-in-white being outsourced due to the massive investment required to add capacity in-house.

Chapter 3 sets out just-auto’s estimates and forecasts of aluminium and plastics in a medium-sized passenger car in Western Europe, North America and Japan as a percentage of total vehicle kerb weight from 2005 through 2016.

Read more about this report with just-auto's research article here

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Body structure and materials
Overview
Steel
Q&A with Corus
About Corus
Aluminium
Q&A with Stadco
About Stadco
Plastics and composites
Q&A with JSP
Q&A with 3M
Carbon fibre
Organic materials
Coatings

Chapter 3 Market forecasts
Aluminium
Plastics

List of tables
Table 1: Alternative materials: potential weight saving versus cost
Table 2: Evaluation of a clutch pedal
Table 3: Cost of CO2 saving
Table 4: Examples of alternative materials to steel
Table 5: Aluminium as a percentage of total kerb weight of a medium-sized passenger car in Western Europe, North America and Japan, 2005-2016 (%)
Table 6: Plastics as a percentage of total kerb weight of a medium-sized passenger car in Western Europe, North America and Japan, 2005-2016 (%)