‘Lightweighting Is nothing but rightweighting'

Vehicle lightweighting is critical to achieve net-zero targets say experts at Autocar Professional conference.

As the automotive industry increasingly balances cost with efficiency and safety, vehicle Llightweighting is gaining traction as a route to greener motoring and profitability. From automakers to component suppliers, they are all actively engaged in shaving off grams and slashing kilos from vehicles using the latest technologies. Latest technology applications include new material mixes, high-performance reinforced plastics and modern manufacturing processes. And in the era of electric vehicles, lightweighting is gathering even more prominence when it comes to meeting performance parameters.

Autocar Professional conducted the second edition of its annual Vehicle Lightweighting Conference on October 18 and 19 in a virtual format.

The webinar focused on the overarching theme of lightweighting and its increasing importance in the automotive industry. The industry is actively moving forward to achieve decarbonisation and net-zero targets by innovating products and technologies amidst attempts to reduce global warming and climate change.

The event was graced by leading experts from the global automotive industry who addressed the audience joining from around the world. The two keynote speakers were Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO and MD, Renault India Operations and Dr Royston Jones, CTO, Altair, and MD - Altair UK and Ireland.

Among the panelists were Dr Tapan Sahoo, Executive Director (Engineering) Maruti Suzuki India; Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Stratasys, India and SEA; Seetharaman Krithikumar, Vice Director, Transportation, Performance Materials, BASF India; Sanjay Apte, Senior General Manager and Chief of CoC Body and Trims, CV Engineering, Tata Motors, Chandrabhan Singh, Deputy General Manager, R&D, Sujan Continental.