The reporter recently learned from Frost & Sullivan's research analysts that the light weight automotive materials market had revenues of 38 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, and it is estimated that by 2017, the figure is expected to reach 95.34 billion U.S. dollars.

Governments around the world have passed laws that require reductions in fuel consumption and/or carbon emissions. Since the weight of the car has a direct effect on its fuel efficiency, these laws allow the automotive industry to replace heavy materials in certain systems with lighter alternatives, which in turn leads to reduced vehicle weight. Frost & Sullivan pointed out that if the car's powertrain is also shrinking, the car's weight can be reduced by 10%, can achieve fuel savings of 5% to 7% (in MPG).

Sandeepan Mondal, Frost & Sullivan's senior research analyst, said: "These laws also encourage automotive OEMs to seek innovative solutions to comply with legal requirements and remain profitable."

For example, the European end-of-life vehicle directive has forced automakers to minimize the amount of waste they manufacture when the end of their useful life is approaching. On the one hand, the directive encourages the use of lightweight, recyclable materials in passenger vehicles; on the other hand, it also hinders the market growth of thermoset materials and carbon composites.

Although lightweight materials can indeed reduce the overall weight and carbon footprint of a car, it also significantly increases the cost of the car. According to the Frost & Sullivan report, the business of OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers has been severely affected during the economic downturn. Therefore, under such unfavorable economic conditions, they will be less likely to be keen on metal-based assemblies. Business transfer to alternative material assembly.

According to Frost & Sullivan's assessment, the lightweight automotive metal materials market in 2010 had revenues of US$206.81 billion and output of 10.3 million metric tons. The company expects that the automotive metal materials market will grow at a CAGR of 16.4% and increase to US$59.805 billion in 2017. Aluminum has always maintained a leading position in the use of automotive metal materials, both in terms of value and usage.

Frost & Sullivan also pointed out that external and white body components may witness more metal-to-metal replacements. Aluminum is still the material of choice for body panels, and for high-strength structures, advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) is expected to replace lower-grade steel.

According to Frost & Sullivan's assessment, the automotive plastic materials market recorded revenue of 17.30.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, and the output was as high as 5.5 million metric tons. The entire automotive plastic materials market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.8%, and in 2017 it will grow to $35,526.2 million. Polypropylene has always maintained a leading position in the use of automotive plastic materials, both in terms of value and usage.

Frost & Sullivan pointed out that internal and under-hood components may witness more plastic-to-plastic alternatives. However, in light of the continuing trend of reducing the weight of automobiles, most plastics will be used to replace metal components.

Among all the lightweight materials, aluminum has a leading position in terms of consumption and revenue; and polymers are mainly due to their lower cost-performance ratio (depending on the size, shape, and complexity of the components). More adoption. However, the adoption rate of plastics will be lower in structural components that require strong impact resistance.

The government departments of various countries in the world are constantly improving the standards of fuel efficiency and carbon emissions, but China has paid more attention to the energy conservation and emission reduction of automobiles than any other country. Chinese automotive OEMs are aggressively developing advanced materials and technologies to help reduce vehicle weight and meet emissions and fuel efficiency requirements.