Steel Fuel Tank Manufacturers Gear Up for a Comeback

DUBLIN, Ireland--Sept. 20, 2006--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c42322) has announced the addition of Global Market Review of Fuel Tanks - Forecasts to 2012; 2006 Edition to their offering.

In the 1970s, all fuel tanks were made of steel. Today, it is estimated that more than 90% of fuel tanks in Western Europe are made from plastic. The main factors driving fuel tank innovation are legislation, weight, packaging, safety and cost. Although steel industry sources acknowledge the benefits of plastic tanks, they believe that the tide is turning in their favour.

They argue that, in the long-term, the environmental and cost issues will win back a larger share of the steel fuel tank business. They reckon that they can make steel tanks with the same amount of design flexibility as plastic.

This third edition of the report reviews the key market drivers for automotive fuel tanks, addressing a number of topics, including:

How will the market evolve through to 2012?

Who is investing in the emerging markets?

Given the legislation in Europe and California, can steel tanks really make a comeback?

Plastic tanks have some clear advantages over steel, yet recycling them is still an issue. How do plastic tanks square in Europe given the end-of-vehicle-life requirements?

Bio-diesel is already popular in Europe and is reported to be spreading to the North American market. Yet there still issues among vehicle manufacturers using plastic fuel tanks to store bio-diesel. Can steel do a better job?

How does the quality of fuel storage affect the design of injection systems and what are the trends?

Who leads the European fuel tank market?

In terms of tomorrow's fuel tank designs, what could we expect?

Product fitment forecasts in chapter two predict in some detail how the market for plastic and steel fuel tanks will evolve in Western Europe, Japan and North America from 2000 through 2012.

The report also includes coverage of fuel tank activity in the emerging markets and an updated review of new product developments in chapter three.

Chapter 1 - Introduction
 Fuel for thought
 Report coverage

Chapter 2 - The market
 Market trends
 Market players
 Inergy Automotive Systems SA
 Kautex Textron
 TI Automotive
 Visteon
 Market shares
 Worldwide
 Europe
 North America
 Asia-Pacific
 Emerging markets
 Market forecasts
 Plastic fuel tanks
 Steel fuel tanks

Chapter 3 - Technical review
 Defining the elements
 Recent innovations
 New fuels
 Ethanol
 Biodiesel
 Fuel storage issues

Chapter 4 - Manufacturers
 Inergy Automotive Systems
 Kautex Textron
 TI Automotive
 Visteon

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c42322