Potential of Non-ferrous Materials Use in Automotive Industry

The paper reviews the growth of the use of different non-ferrous metals and alloys in the automotive industry to meet the needs of weight reduction, high heat dissipation and high temperature strength and corrosion resistance. It examines the potential of growth of this use in the light of some recently developed non-ferrous materials and processing techniques which are finding growing applications in the aerospace industry. Since the automotive industry cannot afford the high costs to the same extent as can the aerospace industry, the use of some of the improved materials would need to keep pace with the growth of the cost benefits of their use in this industry.