“Many of the automotive design heads are saying steel is the material of choice and the best value,” said Brad Davey, chief marketing officer for ArcelorMittal North America and the steelmaker's global automotive division. 

Davey’s comments came during a panel discussion focused on advanced automotive steels at the 32nd annual Steel Survival Strategies conference in New York, N.Y., USA. The conference is sponsored by American Metal Market  and World Steel Dynamics. 

Dean Kanelos, market development and product applications manager for Nucor Corp., agreed that steel has the edge, saying that forecasts are showing steel remains the material of choice.  

And it will have to, he said, because the mass consumer market won't support more expensive vehicles.  

He said that with the average new vehicle cost at US$34,000 and consumers taking out loans that extend beyond five years, an increase of a few thousand dollars in sticker price – or an increase in car loan financing costs -- could put a new vehicle entirely out of reach for many Americans. 

Therefore, automakers can’t afford to use more expensive materials as they look to lighten vehicles, he said. 

Also during the discussion, Eric Peterson, vice president for research and innovation at AK Steel, said the key for steelmakers will be not only to provide new materials, but to help automakers find new solutions, leading them to ways to lower weight that involve more than changing grades and gauges of steel. 

“You must gain advantage of geometry,” he said, explaining that new steels allow for components to be designed in ways they previously couldn’t. 

“When (automakers) change the geometry that introduces a continued flow of opportunities for lightweighting,” he said.