Reducing cost and weight are shared goals that cross national boundaries as vehicle manufacturers relentlessly strive to improve the affordability and performance of their products. Where steel ruled supreme, it is now being challenged by a host of materials that not that long ago were considered too expensive or exotic. Aluminium has always been waiting on the sidelines, but it has now been joined by magnesium while the evolution of a wider variety of plastics continues unabated. A comparison between the new and old S-class Mercedes-Benz provides an interesting illustration of the trend in materials use. While iron and steel still account for over half the unladen weight of the car at 53 per cent, it is down from 63 per cent of the old model. Meanwhile aluminium accounts for 14 per cent of the unladen weight compared with just six per cent before. Interestingly it has moved ahead of plastics which now account for 10 per cent, an increase of just two per cent on the outgoing model.
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