Alcoa (NYSE:AA) and CIMC Vehicles (Shandong) Co., Ltd., a leading specialty truck manufacturer in China, announced today that they have formed a strategic partnership, to design and develop a new, energy-efficient, aluminum fuel tanker trailer for the Asian market. Kevin Kramer, President, Alcoa Growth Initiatives, and Xiaoxu Liu, General Manager CIMC Shandong, formalized the partnership in Jinan City, Shandong Province. Alcoa will apply its world-class design, engineering and manufacturing expertise with CIMC Shandong's fabrication knowledge to produce the lightweight, environmentally-friendly tanker trailer.
"The aluminum fuel tanker trailer will bring tremendous value to the commercial transportation market in China, because of the outstanding environmental and economic benefits that aluminum brings to this market," said Mr. Kramer. "The aluminum fuel tanker trailer will be 30 percent lighter than conventional stainless steel trailers, resulting in a significant increase in payload, greater fuel savings and lower emissions."
The Alcoa Bohai plant in Qinhuangdao, China, will supply the aluminum sheet and Alcoa Fastening Systems (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., in Jiangsu, China, will provide the Huck brand fasteners. In addition, the new aluminum intensive fuel tanker trailer will roll on patented Dura-Bright forged aluminum wheels sourced from Alcoa's Köfém plant in Hungary, enabling a smoother ride with lower maintenance.
"This is an opportunity to grow this market and create a positive environmental impact. The new aluminum tanker trailer is an optimal sustainable solution that will offer our customers a new option and opportunity to reduce their costs, while increasing their payload capacity in an environmentally friendly way," said Mr. Liu "With the energy-efficient aluminum fuel tanker trailer, we anticipate payback within one year."
The combination of lightweight aluminum production and lower fuel costs of the tank trailer results in a total CO2 savings of 90 tons per trailer over the lifespan of each vehicle.
The first prototype is expected to be road tested in Jinan City and Beijing in October 2009.
In 2007, Alcoa partnered with Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Company, China's leading bus producer, to develop a new generation of energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly buses that were road tested during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Best-in-class Alcoa products, such as forged wheels, body sheet and Dura-Bright wheels, are helping the transportation industry meet its goals of improved fuel efficiency, performance, customer satisfaction, and reduced emissions.