It seems our cars are on a diet – and according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan, they’re going to keep getting lighter.
In the report “Prevalent Substitution Trends within Materials and Chemicals in Automotive Lightweighting”, they find that the lightweight automotive materials market will earn revenues of $95.34billion in 2017 – that’s an increase from $38billion in 2010.
The reason for the increase it finds is that governments around the world have been passing laws mandating reductions in fuel consumption and carbon emissions. As a result, manufacturers are looking to lower vehicles’ weight by replacing heavy materials in certain systems with lighter alternatives. A 10 per cent reduction in vehicle weight can offer fuel savings of five- to seven per cent.
One example is the end-of-life directive in Europe, which compels automakers to minimise the waste created when a vehicle reaches the end of its useful life. It therefore encourages the use of recyclable lightweight materials.
However, on the downside, Frost & Sullivan highlight that lightweight materials can hike costs considerably.
Going forward it suggests that aluminium will remain at the forefront of the automotive metals market, both in terms of value and volume; while exterior and body-in white components are likely to witness more metal-metal substitution; and interior components are likely to witness more plastic-plastic substitution.
