European and American car companies are striding to lead the Asian era in the aluminum era

Abstract With the pressure of gradual tightening of fuel efficiency regulations around the world, more and more car companies are beginning to reduce the weight of their bodies by improving the application of aluminum materials. Audi, Ford and other European and American car companies are leading the trend, but Asia The pace of car companies replacing steel with aluminum is much slower. needle...
Affected by the gradual tightening of fuel efficiency regulations around the world, more and more car companies began to reduce the weight of the body by increasing the application of aluminum materials. Audi, Ford and other European and American car companies are leading the trend, but Asian cars. The pace of replacing aluminum with steel is much slower.

In response to this phenomenon, Reuters recently published an article: "Western Automakers Embrace Aluminum, Asia Still Welded to Steel", the main contents are as follows:

Emission regulations tightened to promote the aluminum era

According to the prediction of aluminum manufacturing giant Novelis, the demand for aluminum materials in the North American auto market will quadruple in 2016, far higher than the expected increase of 71% in the Asian market.

By 2016, Asia's aluminum consumption in the entire automotive industry is expected to be less than 10%, while aluminum consumption in North America and Europe will account for 45%, respectively, while Asia's automobile production will account for the global production. More than half of the forecast is still expected.

“Strict emissions regulations are the main driver for the automotive industry to replace aluminum with aluminum, especially in the North American market, as well as game rule changers in the aluminum rolling industry,” said Charlie Durant, senior consultant at CRU. “In Asia, countries The emissions regulations are relatively less stringent, and the size of cars in this area is generally much smaller.” Charlie Durant added: “The higher cost of aluminum is considered a depressing factor, so only the most stringent regulations This material will be widely used in the region."

European luxury car companies such as BMW and Audi are expanding the use of aluminum in their high-margin models. Ford's F-150 pickup with all-aluminum body will be put into production later this year. However, Hyundai, Toyota and other Asian car companies do not have very popular luxury models, and they do not have the premium capacity of Audi and BMW.

"If Toyota or Nissan develop a completely different architecture for their respective Lexus and Infiniti, they will fall into the dilemma of cost, because the sales and premium capabilities of these luxury brands cannot be compared with German luxury car companies." EFS Commercial Truls Thorstensen, president and CEO of EFS Business Consultancy, said: “All Asian car companies face the same problem. They don’t have enough premiums, so they need to be extra cautious.”

Cooperating with steel enterprises

According to two people familiar with the matter, in order to compete with German luxury brands, Hyundai Motor has considered upgrading the high-end model Genesis from steel to aluminum about four years ago, so as to achieve lighter weight while improving The fuel economy of this model. In addition, according to two other sources, Kia Motors has taken similar measures to use aluminum in the doors, hoods and trunk lids of the high-end K9.

However, due to the high cost of aluminum materials and the close relationship with sister company Hyundai Steel, Hyundai and Kia eventually abandoned plans to replace steel with aluminum.

The old models of Hyundai's previous models used aluminum hoods, and the current model, Lawns, which was launched at the end of 2013, was replaced with a steel hood, resulting in fuel economy even lower than the previous models. According to Novelis's data, the aluminum hood is about half lighter than steel. The US Department of Energy has previously said that for every 10% reduction in body weight, fuel economy can be increased by 6% to 8%.

Hyundai Motor declined to comment on which material was used during product development. A Kia Motors spokesperson said that the company did not use aluminum body parts in the K9 test version and refused to consider whether to use aluminum during the development of the model. Make a comment.

Insufficient premium capacity is difficult to offset the high cost of aluminum

At a time when European and American automakers such as Audi and Ford led the trend of automotive aluminum, Asian competitors were stunned. In addition to upgrading the aluminum materials, it would cost money to upgrade the factory, and it would disrupt the existing manufacturing process of the factory. And the cooperation between car companies and suppliers.

According to sources, when Hyundai Motor discovered the Lawrence in 2010, engineers had proposed to expand the range of aluminum materials from the engine cover to the peripheral body panels or even the body frame, but considering the close connection with modern steel. As well as the high cost of aluminum materials, the company finally went the opposite way, and even the material of the hood was changed from aluminum to steel.

Woo Yoo-cheol, President and CEO of Hyundai Steel, said: “Modern Auto is a mass-market-based automaker and therefore under tremendous pressure to cut costs. The most important thing for the company is to remain competitive in the market. The use of steel in the flagship model is considered to be more competitive."

In terms of the replacement of models, European and American car companies tend to carry out a complete set of product upgrades, and this requires a redesign of the factory. Asian car companies tend to upgrade gradually, so that existing plants can be used to produce multiple models on the same production line, which forces them to find other ways to reduce the weight and emissions of the car to meet the increasingly stringent burning of Europe and the United States. Consumption and emissions regulations.

According to data from consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, although aluminum is 30% lighter than conventional steel and 15% lighter than high-quality steel, aluminum is four times more expensive than steel. about. Replacing steel with aluminum will not only bring higher material costs, but also require automakers to invest heavily in upgrading their production lines.

Another way to dig deep into steel potential

However, Asian automakers are not doing nothing in terms of lightweighting, they are working with steelmakers to develop lighter, stronger steels, while also taking other measures to improve fuel economy, including without having to Upgrade the traditional engine and components under the premise of the changes.

Japanese car companies using aluminum materials are basically limited to hybrid and luxury segments, such as Lexus IS. Honda has developed a technology that combines aluminum and steel to produce parts for the US version of the Accord and Acura RLX, but the application ratio of aluminum materials is still very limited.

Nissan Motor announced last year that it plans to expand the application of high-strength steel, which is lighter in weight than traditional steel, but with higher strength. The company's goal is to use high-intensity in new production models starting in 2017. The proportion of steel parts increased to 20%.

Nissan spokesman Chris Keeffe said: "We will continue to use aluminum in the engine cover, door and trunk area of ​​high-performance sports cars such as GT-R and 370Z. Next, we will adopt more in key structural areas. High strength steel."

In addition to the relatively low cost, there is another reason for Asian automakers to insist on using steel, that is, there is sufficient steel supply in the local area. It is reported that two-thirds of the world's steel supply comes from Asia.

Novelis' automotive aluminum sheet plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu, will be commissioned by the end of this year. Jeff Wang, director of sales for the Asian automotive division of the company, said that although Japanese and Korean automakers still have to wait until 2-3 years before they will use aluminum on a large scale. Chinese car companies need 4-5 years, but there are already exclusive Asian car companies that have contacted Novelis. Jeff Wang believes that the use of aluminum materials in Chinese-made cars by European and American car companies will stimulate Asian competitors to follow up.

Wood Mackenzie believes that the steel giants will not easily give the auto industry to aluminum manufacturers, they will counterattack with eye-catching innovation and pricing, so whether aluminum materials can be obtained in the mass market The popularity is not yet known.

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