Transportation

While transportation has typically represented the largest market for aluminum in North America over the past two decades, 2009 marked the worst year for auto sales since 1982 and, as such, transportation applications accounted for only 23.7 percent of all aluminum shipments—4.22 billion pounds in all.

Aluminum's use in vehicles is nonetheless rapidly increasing due to a heightened need for fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles. Automakers appreciate that the use of lightweight aluminum body structures permits them to downsize other parts of the car. Aluminum can provide a weight savings of up to 55 percent compared to an equivalent steel structure, while matching or exceeding crashworthiness standards of similarly sized steel structures. The lifetime fuel savings of these vehicles can amount to 500 - 700 gallons of gasoline, or up to $3,000 at current (June 2010) U.S. prices for gasoline—and significantly more in Europe and Japan.

Similarly, aluminum's low weight and lesser "dead load" compared with competing materials allows engineers to build trains, ferries, and tractor-trailers that can haul a heavier load for a given level of fuel consumption.

To learn more about the automotive use of aluminum, visit www.drivealuminum.org.