Alcan Specialty Sheet, part of Alcan Engineered Products (a business unit of Rio Tinto), has introduced a product portfolio of automotive ‘body in white’ sheet specifications to meet the growing and increasingly complex demands of the European automotive industry.

Body in white refers to the stage in automotive design or automobile manufacturing in which the car body sheet metal (including doors, hoods, and deck lids) has been assembled or designed but before the components (chassis, motor) and trim (windshields, seats, upholstery, electronics, etc) have been added .

With the successful investment in a conversion line at the Neuf-Brisach plant (France), Alcan Specialty Sheet further strengthened its position as a major player in the aluminium automotive market in Europe. Alcan Specialty Sheet, working closely with several OEMs, was able to develop a range of new products to satisfy existing customer specifications and to meet new requirements for future generations of aluminium intensive vehicles.

Co-development programmes

Alcan Specialty Sheet focuses on delivering customised and innovative solutions to address highly demanding industry requirements through co-development programmes with its customers.

“As one of the leaders in automotive body sheet supply, we wanted to develop a complete product portfolio to offer the required tailored solutions,” said Thierry Mootz, director, sales and marketing, automotive and customised solutions, Alcan Specialty Sheet. “By using new and recognisable brand names, we also highlight the differentiation of our products and create a strong automotive identity. The brand names recognise customer requirements like formability, strength, and surface.”

“We developed and qualified products to match key customer specifications, such as Surfalex 6s for demanding skin quality, or Formalex 5x, a high formability 5xxx mono-alloy tailored for difficult parts such as door interiors,” said Dr Hervé Ribes, development manager automotive, Alcan Specialty Sheet. “The development of a full product range within less than two years was possible thanks to our unique R&D capabilities in Voreppe (France). The research centre provides us with a deep knowledge of aluminium applications and experience, acquired through collaborative projects.”