Product ... Aluminum
Company ... Novelis

Novelis ... on the role of aluminum in the manufacture of automobiles

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Sector Focus: Automotive

Automotive is the single fastest-growing market for our products, and sustainability is the biggest driver of the increasing demand. As automakers face more stringent fuel economy and CO2 emissions standards, they are turning to aluminum to lightweight their vehicles – accelerating the virtuous circle of reduced weight enabling smaller engine size and better fuel efficiency. Novelis is the world’s leading supplier of aluminum sheet to the automotive industry. And, with our unrivaled research and technology capabilities, our company has helped to pioneer the aluminum revolution that’s underway in the auto industry.

Car body

Aluminum Applications in Vehicles

After decades of using aluminum for components such as doors and hoods, automakers are now going a step further by introducing all-aluminum vehicles. Key applications for aluminum in cars include:

Body-in-White or Complete Vehicle Body

Structural Components

Body Panels and Side Walls

Doors, Hoods and Trunks

Car Trims and Sealings

For vehicles produced in North America, by 2025: 7 in 10 new pickups will have an all-aluminum body

85% ... Aluminum penetration in hoods will reach 85%

46% ... Aluminum penetration in doors will reach 46%

18% ... Aluminum penetration in complete bodies will reach 18%

Source: Ducker Worldwide, “2015 North American Light Vehicle Aluminum Content Study”

We’re Adding… Highest-Quality, Most-Advanced & Lowest-Carbon Products

Our products are featured in more than 180 vehicle models – including the all-aluminum Range Rover and new aluminum-intensive Ford F-150 – and are fundamentally changing the automotive industry by enabling new levels of effectiveness and efficiency. And as Novelis progresses toward our 80% recycled inputs target, we are dramatically lowering the carbon footprint of our – and our customers’ – products.

Unmatched Global Capacity

We are aggressively increasing our capacity to meet the growing demand for automotive sheet and positioning our operational footprint to be the only company in our industry serving auto manufacturers on three continents – including the world’s first aluminum automotive sheet facility in China, began commissioning in July 2014. With recent investments of more than $550 million, Novelis will triple its automotive sheet capacity by 2015.

Industry-Leading Research & Innovation

In partnership with our customers, Novelis has developed a comprehensive, leading-edge automotive technology package. And recently we’ve taken it a step further with an exciting technology for the use of tailored welding with aluminum for the auto industry – a potential game-changer because it will enable carmakers to substitute tailored aluminum blanks for body parts and structural components, eliminating reinforcements and overlapping joints. This change has numerous benefits – it reduces material use and weight, improves crash performance and cuts both costs and CO2 emissions.

We’re Creating… Lighter, More Fuel-Efficient & Safer Vehicles

Every 10% reduction in vehicle weight results in 5–7% fuel savings, so automobiles made from aluminum offer better fuel efficiency, without compromising size or performance. The all-aluminum-bodied Range Rover, for example, is 420 kg lighter than the previous model – while its CO2 emissions have gone from 253 g/km to 196 g/km. Not only is aluminum light, it’s also strong: Aluminum absorbs more energy per kilogram than steel. That means aluminum structural components offer equivalent – or superior – safety performance compared to traditional steel designs.

Business Growth & Customer Value

Expansion of our leadership in the automotive sector is a cornerstone of Novelis’ aggressive growth plans. We expect our business in the automotive sector to grow from 9% of our portfolio today to approximately 25% by 2020. We are also providing value to our auto customers by designing and delivering the innovative products they need to satisfy their customers and meet regulatory standards.

Closed-Loop Arrangements

We’re creating closed-loop arrangements with our auto customers through which we buy back their production scrap aluminum. The benefits in supply chain management efficiencies – as well as the reduced carbon footprint – of these arrangements are tremendous. We’re also developing new, more easily recycled alloys for automotive applications and leveraging higher-recycled-content materials to close the loop even further.

Redesigning the Ford F-150

Aluminum takes center stage in Ford’s dramatic redesign of its 2015 F-150 pickup truck – and Novelis is pleased to continue our long-time relationship with Ford as one of the key aluminum suppliers for the revolutionary new vehicle. With a body and bed that for the first time includes high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloys, the new F-150 weighs in as much as 700 pounds less than its predecessor – making it more capable and more efficient than ever.

Engineers at Ford designed the F-150 to set the new standard in full-size pickups. Not only is the aluminum body stronger, more dent resistant and more corrosion resistant than ever before, but the new truck can tow and haul more, accelerate and stop faster, and operate more efficiently.

In redesigning the truck, Ford also improved the ease and efficiency of repair and maximized the opportunities for recycling of aluminum scrap.

With the all-new F-150, Ford has designed and built the toughest and smartest F-150 ever.