Comparing steel and aluminum auto structures by technical cost modeling

Manufacturing and vehicle-life cost comparisons are made for selected steel and aluminum automotive body-in-white structures using a computer-based technical cost model developed by IBIS Associates, with the objective of assessing the sensitivity of the costs to change in various input parameters. From a manufacturing-cost standpoint, neither an aluminum unibody nor a spaceframe design is competitive with the steel unibody at production volumes greater than about 40,000 vehicles per year. However, both aluminum structures have lower vehicle-life costs than the steel unibody at all production volumes.