AutoTechInsight
Volume OEMs Lightweighting Strategy
Lightweighting or "right-weighting" (as it is called in some sectors) is the global push across industries to develop material solutions that perfectly balance cost and performance factors. It is imperative to focus on the use of right material at the right place and in the perfect amount for attaining the right performance at the right price.
The development of new materials available for automotive solutions across the body-in-white (BIW), powertrain, and other interior components has been a gradual process. Historically, it was driven by the cost versus personal-feel factors and not with a direct intention of reducing the total weight of the vehicle. The recent push across the globe to achieve stringent fuel-efficiency norms, improved safety/crash features and reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, coupled with the meteoric rise of electric vehicles (EVs) has now brought lightweighting as an enabling field of application.
The report aims at dealing with current light weighting strategy with alternative materials like High strength Steels, aluminum , magnesium , composites including carbon fiber reinforced polymers , and plastics , at Volume OEMs, across their products. It also looks at the future of these materials in these OEMs both in terms of quantitative penetration as well as in terms of specific manufacturer’s vision for the same. Thus, it gives a holistic vision of light weighting at these Volume OEMs.
This report will help understand how the Volume OEMs aim to develop their material research, to final development of components in their production portfolio and possible timelines, in turn helping the suppliers to plan their vision accordingly.
