Posted on 15 Sep 2011
The trend in automotive steel consumption is moving towards hot-formed steel and away from carbon steel, according to Stefano Maggi, metals and anti-corrosion department manager at Italian automaker Fiat.
A standard Fiat car that used 8% hot-formed steel five years ago now uses 23% hot-formed steel, Maggi told MB’s Galvanizing & Coil Coating Conference, which is taking place in Milan on Wednesday and Thursday.
The amount of carbon steel used in the same car has dropped to 3% from 35% over the same period, Maggi said.
Fiat is interested in finding types of steel that are lighter and have good anti-corrosion performance because reducing weight is important if emissions are to be reduced, Maggi said.
His view was echoed by ArcelorMittal automotive steel research manager Michael Babbit.
“In the future, cars will have to lose some additional weight,” Babbit said.
Low-cost cars could make up 20% of the market in the future, Babbit added.
