The trends of steel products in the European automotive industry

The forthcoming European legislation on cars and environment protection has an impact on the materials used for the production of cars. Weight reduction to limit the emission of green house effect gases is possible using new designs with recently developed high strength steels. Examples are described for the body in white and for hang-on panels. Specific steel products provide increased energy absorption capacity and stiffness, and the present coating technologies provide sheets with the required corrosion resistance. Methods are also developed to produce good quality scrap from the vehicles at their life end; they lead to a high degree of material recycling and to a reduction of waste.