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Global targets to curb greenhouse gases are prompting a shift to
aluminum away from other, heavier metals such as steel.
Aluminum use is expected to rise to 180 kg per car on average
from 140 kg in 2012, with long-term growth coming from rolling
sheet and extrusion components, said Gerd Gotz, director general
of industry body European Aluminium, citing a new study
confirming forecasts it made in 2012.
"This will be the growth engine of the aluminum downstream
industry,” Gotz told Reuters at an aluminum conference in Cape
Town.
Under 2015 European Commission mandatory targets, manufacturers
were to ensure the cars they produce emit no more than 130 grams
of CO2 per kilometer on average.
By 2021, that fleet average is to fall to 95 grams per km, with
emission limits based on the mass of a car.
Carmakers, including Mercedes Benz <DAIGn.DE>, Audi, Volkswagen
<VOWG_p.DE> and Peugeot <PEUP.PA>, are expected to use more
aluminum in parts ranging from doors to engines.
Heavier, luxury car models are driving the trend in Europe at
the moment, Gotz said, although this is expected to filter down
to smaller models.
"The cars will not land in a landfill anymore and you will be
able to re-use the aluminum again and again," he said.
The United States uses a footprint model that considers a car's
size and engine efficiency while in Europe emission profiles are
based only on a vehicle's mass.
"Mass-based regulations in Europe is not giving the same
incentive for light weighting as in the U.S.," Gotz noted.
"When you come to a footprint-based regulation you really bring
down the CO2 curve in both weight and engine efficiency,” he
said, adding that the industry body wants the footprint model
adopted in Europe.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by Pratima Desai and Jason
Neely)
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