Order Reprints

Auto Focus

By Melissa Anderson
Vice President, IRN Inc.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Regulatory actions to make fuel savings a higher priority are on the front burner this year, as evidenced by President Obama’s announcement this summer of an agreement with 13 major automakers to press on with more stringent fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards.

It is good news that the federal government is finally coordinating the overseers of fuel economy and air pollution goals to provide some clarity to the industry. Historically, it has been difficult to balance those objectives, since measures to improve one can worsen the other. In addition, the state of California has indicated a willingness to abide by new federal standards, so the automakers should no longer have to accommodate special requirements for this large state and its followers.

While the implications of these regulations are not fully understood, it seems clear that the mandates will create opportunities for many automotive suppliers, including those in West Michigan.

The targeted 54.5 mpg standard by model year 2025 will require every tool currently in the toolbox — and then some. Automakers always struggle to determine how to allocate their resources and what trade-offs to make between the costs and benefits of every change to a vehicle. That the target has been set so high means that many more technologies and methods must be explored. One way to look at the range of choices is by the following categories: 1) weight reduction, 2) fuel-consumption reduction technologies and 3) alternative propulsion technologies.

The most widespread effort to improve fuel economy has been weight reduction. It has been on the minds of the automakers for years and progress has been made, but the tighter regulations can change the economics of the alternatives. Innovations that might have been rejected previously could now be re-evaluated, if the automakers find they need to spend more to achieve the standards.

Companies in West Michigan making structural components, such as Holland’s Shape Corporation with its bumper beams and energy absorbers, have added aluminum and thermoplastic variants to their traditional steel offerings to give their customers lighter-weight solutions.

GHSP in Grand Haven is a specialist in the functionality of shift systems, but they have long incorporated the quest for lightweight construction into their designs in addition to better performance, so they are also well positioned for this trend.

Israeli-owned carbon fiber components specialist Plasan Carbon Composites, which plans to open a plant in Walker, is a comparative youngster and a relative newcomer to the area. It is is a prime example of a company that makes an exotic material whose high-volume production time may be coming.

Technologies to reduce fuel consumption include many powertrain advancements, such as variable valve actuation, dual-clutch transmission, stop-start systems and direct injection. Most of the big names in these components and systems are located outside of West Michigan, but there are still contributors on the local scene.

Autocam Corporation is another company that has been ahead of its time in high-precision, high-quality components for the fuel injection and power steering technologies. Those advancements are increasingly in demand to give consumers better fuel consumption and performance.

Metal stamping suppliers in the area are serving systems integrators that are developing these technologies. Pridgeon & Clay, for example, is an award-winning supplier to Cummins Emissions Solutions, a market leader in exhaust aftertreatment products to help heavy truck assemblers comply with regulations for their part of the industry.

Alternative propulsion technologies extend beyond all the tweaking of the internal combustion engine to hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell power sources. The first two of these rely heavily on improvements in the power storage and packaging of batteries.

The West Michigan region’s involvement in battery innovation has been well-documented (JCI, Saft, LG Chem Power, Trans-Matic and more) and is expected to deepen, particularly if Senator Debbie Stabenow’s Battery Investment Act can gain traction.

We do not believe the successful automotive suppliers in West Michigan need a non-market force like regulations to figure out how to make money. It is characteristic of the companies we work with here, though, that they are alert to those opportunities when they arise, take a long-term view toward the investments that are required, and are cautious enough not to bet the farm on one technology.

The history of CAFE standards and emissions reduction has been one of mandates that ebb and flow as the political winds blow. The current mood of the electorate contains a strong element of anti-government, anti-regulation sentiment in some quarters. The regulatory climate may change over the next few years, but suppliers will be ready to serve when it swings back because they are here for the long haul.

  Order Reprints

TAGS:

• auto focus
• column
• grand haven stamped products
• irn
• julie cridler
• manufacturing
• plasan carbon composites
• pridgeon & clay