It is reported that Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation signed a Strategic Cooperative Agreement on Lightening Auto Steel, claiming to research and develop new technology for lightweight auto steel.
Insiders said it symbolized the deepening joint efforts between top steelmaker and top Chinese automaker both of which are on the top 500 Fortunes list. The cooperation will speed up the R&D and application of new series of auto steel with high strength and has positive demonstration effects for development of technology to make car light.
As the largest auto producer and consumer around the world, lightweight has become an important issue for sustainable development of domestic automobile industry. It is understood that it is a system engineering involved auto design, materials and manufacturing technology to achieve the aim of lightening of auto and lowest consumption under the condition of cost control and performance improvements through structure design and integrated application of kinds of materials and manufacturing technology. Lightweight has been proved to be the key measure of energy saving and emission reduction in auto industry.
As the car weight reduced by 10%, the oil consumption can lower by 6% to 8%, the CO2 emission can decrease by 13%. The requirement for lightweight is more urgent with the development of new energy vehicles concerning about added weights like battery.
The cooperation will be based on SAIC vehicle development and Baosteel R&D and manufacturing platform, combining design, materials and manufacturing technology to push on the application of new generation lightweight products of SAIC and promote the R&D level, solutions and application ability of Baosteel to achieve bilateral win-win development.
