Automobile manufacturers are in a race against time to lighten the weight of their vehicles in an attempt to meet stricter carbon emission and fuel-economy standards. To put things in perspective, here’s a quote from a fact sheet published by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute – “With the burning of gasoline and diesel [in the US] accounting for 59% and 24% of the transportation sector’s emissions, respectively, significant reductions in auto and truck emissions are essential to climate change mitigation efforts.”

Engineers are busy exploring innovative material substitutions for manufacturing vehicles to gain better efficiencies. The auto industry has already seen aluminium, plastics, and composites gradually replace steel over the last few decades. Weight reduction, fuel efficiency, better strength-to-weight ratio, and stricter regulations have been the major reasons for substitution over the years.

Aluminium is the ‘material of choice for many auto manufacturers. Over the next decade, experts expect that aluminium will have a 27% volume share in the body and closure components of a car. Substituting steel with aluminium could lead to up to a 50% weight reduction. Soon, the chassis might be among the few components of a vehicle made of metal…

Road safety has become a huge problem in India. In fact, the government is in the midst of tabling a Bill, which will bring in new vehicle safety standards (providing opportunities and challenges for OEMs) and stricter fines for traffic offenders. Do read about how we recently helped Chevrolet India conduct a study on road accidents in Mumbai as part of their CSR initiative.

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Best regards.