UACJ's Automotive Aluminum Materials Used in the All-New Mazda Roadster

UACJ Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Mitsuru Okada; hereinafter, “UACJ”) and UACJ Group companies have jointly developed a lightweight aluminum bumper assembly, which is employed in the all-new Mazda Roadster^*.

UACJ jointly developed the lightweight aluminum bumper assembly with Mazda Motor Corporation (Headquarters: Aki-gun, Hiroshima; President and CEO: Masamichi Kogai; hereinafter, “Mazda”), including research and prototyping. Pursuing the highest levels of strength, superior design and light weight, the UACJ Group developed high-strength extruded aluminum materials and high-precision manufacturing and machining technologies. Mazda then made full use of these extruded aluminum materials and product technologies in its development of chassis design technologies. Furthermore, the UACJ Group introduced new production equipment and pursued integrated research and development, manufacturing and sales.

By optimizing materials and construction methods for each part of the lightweight aluminum bumper assembly, we achieved a substantial 32% weight reduction compared with previous products. The assembly is employed on the all-new Mazda Roadster, which launched on May 21. This use of extruded materials for a front bumper was a first for Mazda and contributes to making the all-new Mazda Roadster lightweight.

In addition to the lightweight bumper assembly, highly formable 6000-Series aluminum sheet materials have been chosen for the all-new Mazda Roadster's fenders, as well as for bonnet, trunk and power plant frame materials, as in the past. The model also newly includes UACJ's automotive aluminum materials.

In addition to pursuing the development of new technologies and products, the UACJ Group is working to further improve product quality, as it strives to help make lighter-weight products for the automotive industry.

* The all-new Mazda Roadster (known as the Mazda MX-5 outside Japan), which features SKYACTIV Technology and KODO-Soul of Motion design, is a lightweight two-seater rear-wheel-drive convertible sports car. The curb weight of the Roadster has been reduced by over 100 kilograms (to 990–1,060 kilograms) compared to the previous model by increasing the use of aluminum and ultra-high tensile steel from 58 percent to 71 percent and adopting a body structure that is both lighter and more rigid. [Excerpted from materials published by Mazda]