Abstract
The Big Three U.S. automakers—General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford—last week announced formation of a consortium for R&D on new materials. The consortium will seek, among other things, lightweight, energy-efficient polymer composites and engineering plastic materials for future cars and light trucks. The group is already eyeing some $200 million in research projects. The U.S. Automotive Materials Partnership is the 11th collaborative effort the three automakers have initiated since Congress passed legislation in 1984 allowing would-be competitors to form cooperative research groups. Consortia already are focusing on batteries, on composites, and on environmental research, for example. The new partnership's goals include developing materials and processing methods to improve vehicle reliability, reduce emissions, improve safety and crash worthiness, lower costs, and provide for greater ease of recycling. Work on new polymer composites began in 1988 under the Automotive Composites Consortium, which will be fo...
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