It is very important for all players of automotive design to anticipate the changes in order to be in a position to develop the right solutions at the right time and/or to set up the necessary investments.
In order to support the automotive players in their strategies and policies, the European company Mavel and the American company Providata Automotive joined forces in May 2001. This alliance results in reliable global analyses of state of the art automotive design and of automotive design trends. The analysis process relies on a double approach:
- an extensive analysis of new vehicles which have recently been launched onto the market through their entire or partial tear down within the framework of a multi-industrial global program: the Autobench program.
Two dismantling facilities are fully operational, one in Lyon (France, Europe) and one in Stirling Heights (Michigan, North America). Two more, (one in Germany, Europe and one in Japan), are planned for the near future.
- the analysis of key factor of changes - in particular the introduction of new regulations, new standards and the evolution in carmakers policies - through the use of Mavel-Providata Automotive's extensive network of contacts.
Numerous results are obtained from these analyses. In this paper, we will focus on the trends concerning the materials used in European cars and the impact of their selection on weight reduction.