November AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 2 4 *Member of ASM International Consolidations and mergers among automakers and within the metals industry defined the 1990s. AUTOMOTIVE ALUMINUM—PART IX OBSTACLES ON THE ROAD TO ALUMINUM VEHICLE PRODUCTION Industry consolidation, lubricant concerns, and springback issues continued to test automakers as they worked toward aluminum-intensive vehicles. Laurent Chappuis,* Light Metal Consultants LLC, Grosse Ile, Michigan Robert Sanders,* Novelis Inc., Atlanta I ndustrial consolidation via mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers defined the 1990s, restructuring both themet- al and automotive industries, among many others. In 1997, Reynolds Met- als Company (RMC) decided to concen- trate on four core businesses, selling its McCook operation on November 4 to a private equity group under the name McCook Metals. With the new owners primarily focusing on aircraft products, auto body sheet (ABS) production end- ed. As chronicled in Part V of this series, McCook’s outdated, inefficient heat treatment line was never going to be competitive in the evolving ABS market. That left Alcan-Kingston, Alcoa-Daven- port, and the newly opened Alcoa-Dan- ville plant as the only ABS suppliers in North America. In early 1999, RMC sold both its recycling business and remain- ing hot rolling asset in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to a private rolled products company, Wise Metals. The plant fo- cused on can sheet production under RMC and Wise management. Alcoa’s takeover of the leftover assets of RMC and Alcan’s proposal to merge with Alusuisse and Pechiney were followed by British Steel’s take- over of the Dutch steel and aluminum producer Koninklijke Hoogovens. The resulting mixed-metal conglomerate was renamed Corus Group and includ- ed the aluminum mill in Duffel, Bel- gium. At the time, Alusuisse enjoyed a near monopoly on ABS production in Europe, due in part to the patent on its Cu-free Ac120 alloy. German automak- ers had an aversion to copper-contain- ing alloys because they were blamed for corrosion issues in the early days of cast aluminum wheels. Pechin- ey’s AU2G (>2% Cu) and Alcan’s 6111 (0.7% Cu) had always been nonstart- ers in Germany, leaving alloy 6016 as the clear choice for German automak- ers. Pechiney had started work on a new alloy, but it was so close to 6016 that it prompted a dispute with Alusu- isse. They eventually registered 6016A in 1995, just two years before the Ac120 patent expired. Merger activity was not limited to the sheet metal industry. Germa- ny’s Daimler and U.S.-based Chrysler merged in May 1998. Ford Motor Com- pany bought Volvo Car in February 1999. In March, Renault announced it was forming an alliance with Nissan. How- ever, as 1999 progressed, most if not all of this merger activity was lost on the Ford and Jaguar teams work- ing to bring aluminum-intensive ve- hicles (AIVs) to market. For the Ford team, part of the D219 project includ- ed a study of the evolving ABS supply footprint. The D219 program would re- quire about 25,000 mt/yr of 6111 and 120,000 mt of 5xxx ABS. In 1999, Alcan and Alcoa still had enough heat treat capacity and there were several oth- er potential suppliers for 5xxx ABS. Further, aluminum prices had stabi- lized around $1500/mt following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991. From a supply point, D219 was in a historical sweet spot, a period of relatively low prices and sufficient open capacity. JAGUAR X350 DEVELOPMENT The low production volume of the X350meant that Jaguar faced no supply concerns other than Alcan’s ability to deliver outer quality 6111. Development continued steadily, and despite another two-month delay, Ford’s board of direc- tors approved the program in late June 1999 with Alcan as the sole sheet met- al supplier. The focus now turned to fi- nalizing the design and starting the long march toward production. The de- sign followed the AIV, with 6111 skins, 5754 for the body structure, and 5182 for hood and trunk lid inners. The door inners were multi-piece assemblies that included castings and extrusions. The