LONDON (Commodity Online): Aluminium, after a lull, is all set to rock in the metals sector as more and more car makers are now opting for this metal to cut down on the weight of vehicles.

The car makers worldwide are now eyeing Aluminium to reduce weight of the vehicles so that fuel efficiency can be increased.

This move also has a green touch. Less fuel means better for the nature. One way to go about the task is to seek substitution of Steel by lighter weight aluminium, which has also other qualities absent in the ferrous metal. The more expensive vehicles already have their bonnets made in aluminium.

To add to aluminium’s benefit is the increasing demand for vehicles in two major economies of India and China. In both these countries auto sales are soaring to new heights.

The auto industry is planning to secure much greater weight reduction by using aluminium in car outer panels like doors constituting nearly 20 per cent of total body in weight. Engineers at sheet-making centres and auto plants have wondered for long if aluminium will prove to be good for making critical structural components like complete floor tunnel and reinforcements too. If this happens, then light weight car designing could be taken to an altogether new level.

Thanks to the path-breaking fusion technology developed by Atlanta-based Novelis, which was acquired by Hindalco in 2007 and the unflinching quest for lightweighting by the luxury car maker Audi, its new A8 Sedan has turned out to be highly Aluminium intensive. Audi is chasing a target of raising the strength of load bearing components by a quarter and in this Novelis technology provides the right foil.

In the use of aluminium auto sheet, BMW is now keeping Audi company. Novelis says BMW 7 series is the first mass production vehicle to employ fusion technology for making a one piece door inner, including a window frame. Higher weight factor beside, Steel will not lend itself to such complex structuring.

The fact also remains high tech value added aluminium based products do not fare in the same way as commodity aluminium. Same is the case with any other metal.

Meanwhile, sales of new vehicles in Malaysia are expected to hit record high this year after surging 19.8 per cent in the first half of this year with 301,077 units sold.

As the economy rebounds strongly in the wake of the global financial crisis, the Malaysian Automotive Association upped its sales forecast for the whole of 2010 to 570,000 units from 550,000 units that it predicted this January. A total of 536,905 new vehicles were sold in 2009.

Automobile sales in India grew by 31.42 per cent during June, benefiting from favourable macro economic conditions and new models launches across categories, including cars, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), total sales for all categories stood at 12,05,990 units against 9,17,645 units in the year-ago month, up 31.42 per cent.

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