Steel is one of the components that has the most presence in the weight of a car, since about 60% is made up of this material. Therefore, it is not surprising that an automobile brand such as Hyundai has decided to take control of this material and produce its own, in addition to researching and developing new high-strength and much lighter steel alloys.
For more than a decade, Hyundai has been working to meet strict anti-pollution regulations that aim to reduce polluting vehicle emissions, as well as improve safety standards and the dynamic behavior of automobiles through a structure and components made of solid, highly resistant steel. , light and at a cheaper price.
At Hyundai Steel’s R&D center , construction of blast furnaces began in 2006 where they now produce high-quality virgin steel used in the manufacture of automobiles, ships and other consumer goods. The first of these furnaces started operating in January 2010 and just three years later, Hyundai already had three furnaces running at full capacity. This plant is capable of producing more than 10 million tons of steel per year, which is used in the production of new vehicles .
Steel, as we have already mentioned at the beginning of the post, represents approximately 60% of the weight of a vehicle , which is why the vast majority of manufacturers have investigated the application of new materials such as aluminum or magnesium, although without too much success due to the scarce supply and the characteristics that steel has with respect to the rest of the materials present in the industry; steel has a lower cost, is easier to produce and recycle, as well as having a much more sustainable life cycle.
Therefore, there are many advantages that an automobile brand can obtain from the manufacture of its own steel , since it increases its capacity in terms of quality control and also the price of the raw material, without compromising the supply that is necessary to meet production demand.
It is also interesting to consider at this point whether it would not also be beneficial for car manufacturers to develop a strategy that would allow them to recover the steel from their vehicles when they have already reached the end of their useful life, as Jaguar does in the United Kingdom. , to follow the example of Land Rover, which already uses recycled metals in the production processes of its vehicles , with the energy savings and environmental benefit that this has.