The potential of sheet materials in lightweight design and construction

In the future, improvement of the utility value, reduction of costs and decrease in ecological impact will be the most important tasks automobile manufacturers will have to face. One of the challenges facing them is the reduction of vehicle weight. To reach this goal measures and methods have to be found which will encourage lightweight design in the manufacture of automobiles, or rather, of car bodies. To that end, innovative production technologies and strategies are the basis for a better exploitation of the potential of conventional steel sheets and of the possibilities opened up by new lightweight materials.