Aluminium Manufacturing: How Lightweight Materials Are Changing the Industry

Lightweight materials are no longer reserved for niche vehicle builds - they're shaping the future of mainstream automotive design. As OEMs push for fuel efficiency, electrification, and reduced emissions, aluminium is becoming a critical enabler. This blog explores how aluminium manufacturing is evolving to meet new demands, what it means for component design and production, and why getting the material strategy right matters more than ever.

Why Aluminium Is Reshaping the Industry

A major factor driving the shift toward aluminium is the need to meet stricter global emissions standards without sacrificing structural integrity or safety. With a density roughly one-third that of steel, aluminium enables automotive platforms to reduce overall vehicle mass without compromising strength.

Reducing weight brings measurable benefits, including lower fuel consumption, extended range in electric vehicles, better handling and improved acceleration. This shift is reflected across new programmes BCW Engineering supports, including lightweight Body-in-White (BIW) structural and non-structural components to advanced suspension parts and EV battery pack and battery tray enclosures. Read more on how BCW supports automotive platforms at scale.

According to the European Aluminium Association, aluminium content in European vehicles has increased from 174 kg to over 200 kg per car in just three years. It is a clear signal of the industry's material evolution.

These trends align with the key forces shaping automotive manufacturing in 2025, from electrification and platform complexity to material innovation and sustainability.

Aluminium and Component Complexity

Aluminium brings new advantages to automotive manufacturing, but it also introduces technical manufacturing challenges.

At BCW Engineering, projects often begin with a material and geometry design for manufacture review to identify where tolerance and design risks could emerge. High-silicon aluminium alloys are favoured for their wear resistance and machinability, but without the correct tooling strategies and fixturing, distortion and tool wear can become production bottlenecks.

Understanding these details early allows the team to maintain dimensional consistency through to final inspection. This is especially relevant in extrusion applications, including how aluminium extrusions drive innovation across lightweight platforms.

From Lightweighting to Sustainability

The value of aluminium goes beyond performance. It is playing a growing role in helping the automotive sector meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets.

Not only does a lighter vehicle emit less CO2 during use, but aluminium is also highly recyclable. It retains its properties through reuse, making it well-suited to circular manufacturing models being adopted across the industry.

According to the SMMT's 2024 UK Automotive Sustainability Report, direct CO2 emissions per vehicle manufactured in the UK have dropped by more than 50% since 1999. As Scope 3 reporting becomes a greater priority, manufacturers are looking closely at how material selection and process choices influence the total lifecycle impact of a part.

BCW's sustainability-led approach to manufacturing continues to support OEM and Tier 1 customers seeking long-term value and operational accountability. For more on this topic, read how sustainable sourcing is reshaping supply chain expectations.

Engineering Aluminium at Production Scale

Developing aluminium components that move from prototype into series production requires deep integration between design, tooling and process control.

Minor variables like extrusion wall thickness or heat treatment conditions can lead to distortion, warping or surface variation during CNC machining and post-processing. BCW Engineering mitigates this through tightly aligned workflows and vertically integrated services.

Capabilities include:

• Dedicated team for design-for-manufacture (DFM)
• Aluminium extrusion review and validation
• CNC machining (3-, 4- and 5-axis)
• Assembly, fabrication and full product validation through CMM
• In-house passivation, anodising, wet paint, powder coat and dielectric coating

This approach not only prevents issues later in the process, it also enables faster iterations, better cost control and smoother transition into volume production. Compare how CNC and die casting perform under production pressure in our related guide.

Real-World Application: Redesigning Aluminium Wishbones for Lightweight Performance

One of BCW Engineering's most successful aluminium programmes involved a shock tower-wishbone component for the Aston Martin DB9 and subsequent next-generation platforms. The customer needed to reduce vehicle weight, simplify the suspension assembly and improve manufacturing efficiency.

The original modular design used three separate castings and two extrusions, adding unnecessary weight, complexity and assembly time. BCW worked with the customer to transition the design to a single-piece aluminium casting that incorporated both internal and external sand cores. This solution reduced the overall part count, improved alignment and significantly lowered material usage and CO2 impact.

Beyond weight and cost savings, the new wishbone design improved the vehicle's structural integrity and eliminated the need for surface treatment and adhesives during assembly. The result was a more efficient and sustainable component that has remained in production for nearly a decade.

Project outcomes:

• Reduced part count from five components to one
• Lower weight and improved structural efficiency
• Reduced production complexity and cost
• Long-term supply commitment driven by successful DFM partnership

Making the Shift from Steel to Aluminium Without the Risk

Engineers moving from steel to aluminium face a learning curve. The mechanical and thermal properties are different, and what works for one material may introduce issues in another.

That is why early engagement with a manufacturing partner who understands how to manage these variables is essential.

At BCW Engineering, aluminium development is supported from initial concept to production, with teams who specialise in:

• Identifying manufacturability issues early
• Optimising features for weight, strength and cost
• Maintaining process stability throughout entire manufacturing process
• Supporting circularity, traceability and ESG alignment

Whether you're developing BIW structural parts, suspension systems or just aluminium components, the goal is the same. You need to deliver performance without adding risk and cost.