Isra-Mart srl: Fuel-efficiency drive promises hefty returns for lightweight materials

www.isra-mart.com

The global market for materials and chemicals capable of reducing the weight of cars and trucks is set to more than double over the next six years as a result of demanding new fuel-efficiency standards in the EU, US and Japan.

That is the conclusion of a new report from research firm Frost & Sullivan, which predicts the market for automotive lightweighting will climb from $38bn in 2010 to $95.34bn in 2017 – an increase of 150 per cent.

According to the study, a 10 per cent reduction in vehicle weight, coupled with an accompanying reduction in the size of the vehicle's powertrain, delivers fuel-efficiency savings of between five and seven per cent, and as such manufacturers are investing heavily in lightweighting as a means of ensuring that recently introduced fuel-efficiency standards are met.

A flurry of new fuel-efficiency standards means that European auto firms have to reduce average carbon emissions across their fleets, from 160g/km currently to 130g/km between 2012 and 2015, while similar rules in the US mean average fleet efficiency has to reach 35-39 mpg by 2016.

The Japanese government is also pursuing standards that would require a 25 per cent improvement in efficiency by 2020.

"While these laws go a long way towards easing environmental concerns, they also challenge OEMs to find innovative solutions to comply with them and still stay profitable," Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Sandeepan Mondal said in a statement, adding that lightweighting would also help manufacturers comply with regulations governing auto waste.

The report, Prevalent Substitution Trends within Materials and Chemicals in Automotive Lightweighting, states that aluminium remains the most widely used lightweight material, and that advanced polymers can also play an increasingly significant role.