U.S. Small Car Sales Rise, Safety a Continuing Concern for Consumers
Fuel prices and general concern about the environment have shifted U.S. customer sentiment away from larger cars and light-duty trucks, sending the average car buyer down segment into a once rarely visited part of the showroom: small passenger vehicles. But while more compact and subcompact cars are rolling out of the showroom, U.S. consumers still remain wary about safety, and the ability to stand up to larger vehicles in a two-car collision.
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Much like a nut is protected by its hard outside shell, the Smart Fortwo's occupants are protected by a steel housing that combines longitudinal and transverse members that displace impact forces over a large area of the car.
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Automakers are working hard to demonstrate that their small vehicles meet the highest safety standards. And those achievements are coming, in part, through excellent applications of advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) throughout the critical body structure and its energy management load paths.
Daimler’s Smart car is perhaps the most extreme small car at only 8 feet 10 inches long, making it about 3 feet shorter than another small vehicle, the Mini Cooper. But the 353-lb. high-strength steel safety cage is configured to divert crash energy down towards the bottom of the car, diverting it below the passenger compartment rather than relying on a crumple zone. With deliveries beginning in January, Daimler reports that about 30,000 people already have placed orders for the diminutive vehicle.
The new Mazda2 also is a study, lightweight steel design, with AHSS composing roughly 40 percent of the entire vehicle which weighs in at 2,100 lbs. – 220 lbs. less than the Toyota Yaris, another top small-car seller. Available only in Europe for the moment, the Mazda2 received 5 stars for adult occupant protection in the Euro NCAP test. The body structure uses Mazda’s Advanced Impact Distribution and Absorption System, dispersing impact energy through the steel crash cell.
Even as total vehicle sales look gloomy in the U.S. for 2008, the compact car segment is expected to rise through the year. Sales in this segment, which includes the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and Chevrolet Aveo, jumped 33 percent last year. And with little expectation for a dramatic drop in fuel prices, demand should continue through the current year.
The spark in sales has renewed customers’ interest in safety issues, and global automakers are getting out in front of the questions, trumpeting strong results from standard crash tests. Chevrolet points out that its Aveo5 earned a five-star frontal crash test rating and the 2008 Aveo Sedan earned a five-star driver and four-star passenger frontal crash test rating. Again, a high-strength steel safety cage around the passenger compartment plays a critical role in achieving this rating. This structure has been engineered to help maintain passenger compartment integrity and features tailor-welded blanks, something not normally found in the compact passenger car segment.
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The new Mazda2 is a study, lightweight steel small-car design, with AHSS composing roughly 40 percent of the entire vehicle. |
Toyota’s Yaris also receives top marks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, earning the highest possible rating of "Good" for frontal-offset collisions. Side-impact testing also yielded a "Good" rating with the optional side airbags. The Yaris is built around a highly rigid yet lightweight structure incorporating strategic use of high-strength steel.
Automakers aren’t letting up in this segment. Ford recently debuted its Verve concept vehicle, which will rollout worldwide as the new Ford Fiesta. By 2010, this new small-car family will be manufactured in Europe, Asia and North America. The new Fiesta features a broad application of advanced high-strength steels throughout the body structure, including boron and dual-phase steels. Ford calls the body structure "the secret" to the car's "quantum leap" in structural stiffness versus its light weight. These steels are used particularly in safety critical areas, such as the A- and B-pillar, part of the ultra-rigid 'door ring' structure of the body side.
And GM introduced three concepts last year, the Chevrolet Beat, Groove and Trax giving consumers a look at three possibilities for a future global mini car from GM. Company vice-chairman Bob Lutz subsequently announced that GM would likely put the Beat concept into production.
With these two models earmarked for worldwide production, and the growing sub-compact market in the U.S., AHSS applications are likely to play a continuing, critical role in keeping these cars safe for consumers.
