Aluminum is on a roll. Already at No. 2, behind steel, as the most-used raw material for vehicle production, industry forecasters report that the demand for overall automotive aluminum is expected to nearly double by 2025.
Compared to 2012’s levels, the amount of specific aluminum body sheet content in North American cars and trucks is expected to quadruple by 2015 and increase tenfold by 2025.
Media accounts have been raising the possibility that these rapidly rising engineering applications could be foiled by shortages of the metal, but aluminum producers are eager to stamp out such concerns by embarking upon ambitious expansion initiatives.
Another issue is whether the U.S. auto repair segment is adequately prepared with the equipment and technical know how necessary to work on the influx of aluminum components set to arrive through their bay doors.
“It’s a pretty safe bet that we are not,” says Darrell Amberson, chairman of the Automotive Service Association (ASA). “This could be quite a significant wave, and the question is: How many people will embrace it?”
An aluminum welding stall must be shielded and segregated from other shop activities to avoid metallurgical contamination. The estimated cost associated with setting up a suitable welding station falls into the $50,000 range, according to Amberson, who tells Aftermarket Business World that this actually represents a “reasonable” investment given the industry’s need to stay current with the latest technologies.
Amberson also is vice president of operations at the LaMettry’s Collision Inc. chain in Minnesota, and he notes that the company is among numerous other shops that hold OEM certifications from automakers that have previously included a sizable amount of aluminum content.
“We have embraced the Audis, Mercedes’ and Teslas,” he says. “It’s pretty indicative of the trend. We have a number of techs who do weld with aluminum, but it takes some training and a lot of practice.” Amberson is especially pleased that the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) has lowered its fees for welding instruction.
“The number of aluminum-intensive vehicles is expected to surge in the coming years and technicians and shops must be prepared to perform quality, complete and safe aluminum repairs to properly restore these vehicles,” I-CAR’s syllabus points out. “The inherent differences involved in aluminum welding can challenge technicians who are familiar primarily with steel.”
Amberson estimates that only 10 percent of the nation’s independent repair shops are currently certified to work with aluminum. And way too many operations are still expressing a reluctance to press forward. “Even some dealerships are not inclined to embrace it,” Amberson reports, adding that the July 31-Aug. 2 International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) in Detroit will be addressing aluminum’s heightened role by including representatives from Alcoa and aluminum-oriented OEMs.
“There will be a lot of information there on aluminum and the F-150 in particular,” says Amberson, referring to the upcoming 2015 Ford pickups that contain enough high-strength aluminum alloys to assist in shedding nearly 700 pounds from the vehicle’s weight while also improving dent and ding resistance.
“Our objective was to find materials that allowed us to design the truck to be as tough – or tougher – than the current model, yet could help it be hundreds of pounds lighter for better capability and fuel economy,” says Pete Friedman, Ford’s manager of manufacturing research. “Out of all the materials we tested, we carefully selected only certain grades of aluminum” to meet the automaker’s performance standards.
“One in 20 vehicles sold today are F-150s,” Amberson says, stressing the need for industry preparedness. The F-150 has been the top-selling vehicle of any type in North America for the past 32 years, accounting for 40 percent of all truck sales in the U.S.
Increased aluminum content is certain to follow for other vehicle models as well.
Ford President and CEO Allan Mulally was previously a senior executive at Boeing, and in September 2013 he explained in a television interview that “we have been adding more aluminum. I can tell you as an airplane person, aluminum is very durable and very strong. And the neat thing is that it brings such a reduction in weight. And so clearly, back to fuel efficiency again and durability and quality, we’re going to see more and more of these alloys going forward, to the benefit of the customer.”
Reducing body mass
Reflecting the overall OEM sector’s efforts to comply with stricter federal fuel economy regulations, General Motors is reportedly developing a mostly aluminum pickup body scheduled for release in 2018. The 2014 Corvette sports a 57 percent stiffer aluminum frame and an aluminum chassis that helps it achieve a 99-pound weight reduction; a redesigned suspension features new aluminum control arms and front and rear cradles.
“Let’s remember why aluminum is even being considered as a key component of automotive design and production. The answer is simple – automobiles need to be lighter in order to become more fuel-efficient,” says Philip Martens, president and CEO of aluminum producer Novelis, which belongs to the Aluminum Association’s Aluminum Transportation Group (ATG). “Automobiles made from aluminum offer dramatically higher fuel efficiency without compromising the level of performance and durability consumers expect from their vehicles,” he asserts.
“Automakers are putting cars and trucks on a major diet to get better gas mileage, and are saying they’re reaching the limits of using advanced steels to lose weight,” says Randall Scheps, the ATG’s chairman who also serves as Alcoa’s automotive marketing director. Referencing a recent aluminum industry study, he contends that “aluminum is the material of choice to reduce body mass and boost fuel economy – which consumers list as their primary concern when buying a new car or truck – while providing the safety, performance and durability that consumers also demand.”
Up and rolling
At the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Alcoa executives announced that the company is investing about $670 million in three major expansions to meet automakers’ requirements. Long-term supply agreements have been secured for its Iowa facility, added automotive capacity for the Tennessee plant is scheduled to be up and rolling by mid-2015, and a joint-venture mill in Saudi Arabia is set to be completed by the end of this year.
“2014 marks the beginning of dramatic growth for aluminum in the auto sector,” says Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa’s chairman and CEO.
Not to be outdone, Novelis is spending an additional $205 million to further expand its global manufacturing operations. New automotive sheet finishing facilities will be constructed at plants in New York and Germany.
“With the addition of these two new lines, we have invested nearly $550 million to expand Novelis’ global automotive capacity in the last two years alone,” says Martens. The company’s aluminum is currently being applied to more than 180 worldwide vehicle models.
A new plant under construction in China is on track to open later this year, complimenting an array of existing automotive aluminum facilities in Canada, Switzerland and Germany.
Martens goes on to describe the ongoing development of the firm’s “automotive closed-loop business model” initiative. Currently as much as half of the sheet sold to automakers is left over after a manufacturing plant stamps out the parts, and the company is working closely with its OEM customers to return this material directly back to Novelis for recycling, a process aimed at “streamlining the materials supply chain while reducing the total carbon footprint of the entire automotive production cycle.”
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