Sustainable products give automakers an edge, suppliers say

Traverse City, Mich. — Auto suppliers and automakers increasingly see developing sustainable products not just as a way to check a box on climate targets but to help them save costs and differentiate themselves from competitors.

"Sustainability is not about sacrifice all the time," Kevin Butt, Toyota Motor North America senior director of environmental sustainability, said during an Aug. 6 panel at the 2024 CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City.

Automakers and suppliers are under pressure to hit environmental and sustainability targets in the coming years. Much of the focus is on reducing carbon footprints, but those goals often go beyond that to include using materials more sustainably, for example.

Supplier executives who spoke on the panel said new approaches on those topics can help them win business and help their automaker customers meet sustainability targets.

Canadian supplier Martinrea, for example, developed brake lines it supplies to Ford that use graphene and nylon to weigh about 25 percent less than typical brake lines while improving chemical resistance. That helps to make the component last longer and make the vehicle more efficient.

"It's an example of something that's more sustainable greatly improving the performance of the product," said Megan Hunter, Martinrea's procurement and supply chain operations chief.

Likewise, Rich James, Dow Chemical Co.'s mobility science global marketing director, pointed to a recyclable, silicone-based tire sealant technology it developed with Bridgestone in 2022 that can be efficiently removed from a tire after a puncture so the tire can be repaired, helping to improve recyclability and sustainability in the tire space.

Companies are also eyeing emerging technologies to help them boost sustainability and stay ahead of their competition.

Advanced engineering services firm EWI said it has begun to use data science and artificial intelligence applications to find ways to reduce the amount of destructive testing done in the auto industry. By using AI and better utilizing data, the industry can cut back on the amount of tests that result in damaged or scrapped parts.

"We won't be wasting as much material," said Doug Myers, senior business development director at EWI.

James sees the development of autonomous driving systems as a potential boon for sustainability in the auto industry, saying many of the materials and designs the industry uses are in place because of the potential for vehicles to crash and the need to keep people inside of them safe. By greatly reducing the risks of a crash, the industry could begin to "radically redesign" vehicles in a more sustainable manner, he said.

"We don't build our airplanes to crash, thank goodness," James said. "But we build our cars to crash. If we have autonomous zones with autonomous vehicles, we won't need to build those cars to crash. You can have further lightweighting and further chemistries and plastics being used all in the name of sustainability."