Materials and design play the strongest role in lightweighting vehicles

Reducing CO2 emissions has, in broad terms, been tackled by two routes. Namely improving the performance of diesel and petrol powertrains (by adding catalysts, stop-start technology and other technical enhancements to the engines) or reducing vehicle weight

Cutting weight, reducing emissions, increasing vehicle safety, adding driving convenience features and improving the environmental footprint of the industry as a whole have been some of the most significant drivers of change in the automotive sector in recent years. The industry has been faced with the challenge of doing all this and more, often with mutually contradictory outcomes; adding airbags or specifying larger wheels for example adds weight which needs to be countered by reducing weight elsewhere in the car.