Aluminum will grow record in automotive applications

According to US media reports, Randall Scheps, head of marketing for Alcoa's automotive metals division, said that now is the perfect time to enter the aluminum industry. Major auto manufacturers hope to expand their aluminum applications in automobiles. range.

Audi had already applied aluminum to cars as early as 25 years ago and has become a customer actively pursuing aluminum applications, especially in its recently launched limited-edition A8 flagship model. The German luxury carmaker is now expanding its aluminum applications on the high-sale A6 and TT sports cars. Scheps said that in the next five years, you will see more and more high-volume mass market cars will adopt aluminum body, and North America will lead the trend, but he declined to disclose the vehicle brand to comply with this trend. However, Ford announced in January that its next-generation F-series full-size pickups, which will be launched in 2014, will use aluminum body panels because the automaker is trying to meet the increasingly stringent fuel economy standards. The Nissan Infiniti luxury brand unveiled its EL electric concept car at the New York Auto Show in April this year, and uses an all-aluminum body, and the car will be in production.

Scheps is also the chairman of the Aluminum Association Transportation Group. He also said that the all-aluminum bodywork is still a subdivision vehicle so far, and this part of the vehicle has an annual sales volume of about 20,000 vehicles. However, in the next five years, the delivery of this model will reach 200,000 vehicles per year. It predicts that the North American automotive industry will surpass Europe in the next five years and become the larger consumer market for aluminum metal. A car with an all-aluminum body may use 1,000 pounds (454 kg) more aluminum, including wheels, an engine, and a transmission. The proportion of aluminum used in cars produced in Europe is roughly the same as in the United States, but as the European cars are smaller in size, the overall aluminum content will also be lower. In addition, Asian automobile manufacturers will also join this lineup. Honda and Nissan may become leaders in Japanese aluminum applications and Toyota may adopt it later.

According to Scheps, it is estimated that the cars produced in China are expected to wait for a relatively long period of time for aluminum applications. It will take another two periods to complete: the first phase will be mainly foreign joint ventures in China; The two stages will happen after ten years, mainly including the local original equipment manufacturers. As the future fuel economy and emission standards are more stringent, automakers will eventually adopt aluminum products on a large scale in order to meet these requirements, because aluminum applications can help them without sacrificing interior space and car performance. It can also use ultra-high fuel efficiency and lightweight powertrain. The aluminum industry is increasing its output to meet growing demand. For example, Alcoa Inc. announced that it will invest US$300 million in its facility in Davenport, Iowa, to increase its production of automotive aluminum products. At that time, the investment will add 150 jobs, and once the plant is completed in expansion next year, 2,300 workers will work here.

Alcoa is producing large, low-cost, fully integrated aluminum compounds worldwide in Saudi Arabia. In addition, there is a rolling mill that produces automotive body panels, with an annual output of up to 100,000 tons. The project will be launched in 2014. In fact, fuel economy is not a reason why automakers want to use more aluminum products. The second leading factor is the corrosion resistance and strong crash performance of aluminum products. The absorbable impact energy of aluminum is twice that of steel. With the accelerated development of aluminum applications, the automotive industry and the aluminum industry also face some challenges. For example, more technicians need to be trained to better complete aluminum repairs, but Scheps thinks this is completely achievable.

Scheps pointed out that some high-strength steel products are difficult to maintain. The industry has updated a maintenance manual for European aluminum products. In addition, other demand for aluminum such metal is expected to come from the growing electric vehicle industry, because this industry is "lightweight" is a must. Battery can be very expensive compared to spending on aluminum, but by using aluminum, you can save $3. Scheps expects US carmakers to have a cost of US$0.30-0.50 per pound of steel, while aluminum costs US$2 per pound, and aluminum composites cost as much as US$10 per pound. Although aluminum is expensive, he believes that aluminum will still have an advantage over high-strength steel because it is difficult to reduce vehicle weight with only high-strength steel. Scheps does not believe that the current high cost of aluminum will become a stumbling block to the large-scale use of the metal. He said that car buyers are ready to spend their money on aluminum, so that the expenditure on gasoline will be much less. If the car's fuel economy reaches 54.5mpg (4.3L/100km), consumers also need to pay a lot of cost.