I just read an article on ABRN’s website that says the government is going to fund 14.2 million to accelerate the development of lighter and stronger vehicles. According to the article in ABRN the funds will support the development of carbon fiber composites and advanced and advanced steels and allows.
The push for lighter vehicles is to improve fuel mileage. You can read the full article at ABRN.
What Does This Mean For The Repair Industry?
One thing I think they need to include in their research when developing these new materials is how cars going to be repaired if damaged. Or is the idea of totaling most cars that have been involved in an accident the plan?
It sounds to me that auto collision repair shops better be ready for changes heading our way. At SEMA 2011 I heard about more aluminum and new repair methods heading our way. 3M is also in the process of developing metals and materials to produce paintless cars and now the additional funding to accelerate the development of lightweight materials is going to change the repair methods in our industry.
It is going to be interesting to see what the automotive industry looks like in 5 to 10 years. One thing is certain, it’s changing and it may be sooner then we realize.
What Are Your Thoughts?
Dan Lewis says
April 3, 2012 at 5:42 amAs a paintless dent guy as well as a paint/dent guy, I have experienced the changes in quality of metal over the last 10 years and it is getting cheaper, thinner and more diluted through recycling. Japanese cars used to be the worst metal to work on, but Korean cars are taking that title. They use a lot of recycled metals and when I work on it, it’s like pushing up on a blanket…the entire area around the dent wants to go with it. It’s like trying to shape sand!
Like stock investors had to really diversify to make money in this economy, we are gonna have to learn to diversify in our ever-changing field.
admin says
April 3, 2012 at 10:05 amGood point and I agree Dan. Thanks for posting!
Peter Brown says
April 4, 2012 at 10:26 pmI’ll be interested to see the new metals and materials 3M comes out with. I agree that they don’t make cars the way they used to. I’m keeping my old Honda running as long as I can. No car payment and lower insurance costs.