Look Out Plastics; Here Comes Aluminum

The popularity of pickup trucks and SUVs has been a boon to aluminum as automakers have increased the number of models produced each year but continue to fight the weight problem inherent in these vehicles. Aluminum has been the answer and while the material has not threatened traditional plastic parts used on vehicles, it may be encroaching on the growth potential of plastics, especially in structural applications.

According to Stewart Spector of The Stewart Spector Group, a company that keeps monthly tabs on the aluminum industry, automakers have doubled the amount of aluminum used in vehicles over the last ten years and that trend will continue. The amount of aluminum used in an average vehicle last year was 257 pounds. That figure if forecast to increase to 380 pounds by 2005.

New corporate average fuel economy regulations, along with increased prices for fuel, are expected to place greater emphasis on weight reduction in all vehicles over the next few years. Automakers still like plastic because it is still lighter in weight than aluminum, but with aluminum s new found popularity, plastics will have to fight much harder to get specified than they would if they were vying against steel.

Some of aluminum s recent successes include the front fenders and hoods on Ford's new four-door Explorer and Mountaineer SUV; deck lids, bumper beams, hoods and wheels on the redesigned Oldsmobile Aurora where V-6 models will also use aluminum-intensive suspensions; and aluminum engines will replace heavy iron units in G.M.'s new Duramax turbo diesel. The new Olds Aurora contains an estimated 480 pounds of aluminum, although unfortunately, very few will be built as Oldsmobile winds down.