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Jaguar & Land Rover Use the Most Aluminum in the Automotive Industry

All things considered, The Tesla Model S is an aluminum-intensive vehicle, while the 2015 Ford F-150 pickup truck's body is 95 percent military grade aluminum alloy, but even so, Jaguar Land Rover use the most aluminum in the auto industry these days.
Jaguar F-Type door handle 1 photo
Photo: original photo by autoevolution
If you think about it, Jaguar's current range (minus the defunct XK) is made up of the XF sedan, XJ limousine and the F-Type sports car in both topless and coupe flavor. What do these models have in common? That silvery white, ductile metal from the boron group we call aluminum. But Jaguar isn't the only brand owned by India's Tata Motors.

The creator of the SUV is also under Tata's wing. And just like the previously mentioned Jags, the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport also make extensive use of aluminum for their body shells and part of their chassis and suspension bits and bobs. The third most abundant chemical element on Earth as well as the most abundant metal in the ground, aluminum has become the sweetheart of the auto industry in recent years thanks to a few qualities over steel.

First and foremost, it's light, and light means better fuel economy and improved handling characteristics. Secondly, the industry uses special types of aluminum alloys that are very solid, offering better structural rigidity be it sports car or pickup truck. Last but not least, aluminum is resistant to corrosion thanks to the fact that it generates a protective oxide coating, but carmakers increase the material's natural toughness by treating it with solutions such as anodizing, painting and lacquering.

Expected to make its international debut on September 8th, the upcoming Jaguar XE is a compact sedan similarly sized to the BMW 3 Series which has what it takes to become the highest volume Jaguar ever. Moreover, we know that its body and chassis use at least 75 percent aluminum, which is kept in check by state-of-the-art bonding and riveting solutions.

As if that wasn't enough to get you interested in aluminum, the outgoing Ford-sourced mills will be replaced by the all-new Ingenium four-pot engine family. On the Jaguar XE, the 2-liter turbo diesel Ingenium powerplant is expected to be 176 pounds (80 kgs) lighter than the current 2.2-liter oil burner.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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