Nippon Steel’s New 6000-series Aluminum Alloy Sheet， ”MX67”， Adopted for Nissan’s New Skyline Mode

Nippon Steel Corporation (President Akira CHIHAYA) and Sky Aluminum Co.， Ltd. (President Hideyuki HIRATA)， jointly with Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (President Carlos Ghosn)， had been pursuing the development and commercialization of the new， 6000-series aluminum alloy sheet， ”MX67”. The development has now been completed and the product has been adopted for the exposed and unexposed panels of the engine hood of Nissan*s new Skyline model to be released on June 18.

For the aluminum alloy sheets for automotive body panels， traditionally 5000-series (Al-Mg type) aluminum alloy has been used. However， in recent years， 6000-series (Al-Mg-Si type) aluminum alloy has been used mainly due to its excellent bake-hardenability (the property by which sheet hardness increases by paint-baking heat and reduces car weight). For example， Nissan*s Skyline GTR announced in 1998 and released on January 11， 1999， uses 6000-series aluminum alloy sheet， TM30， which was developed by Nippon Steel to reduce car weight. However， the conventional 6000-series aluminum alloy sheet had limitations regarding the freedom of design and applicable parts because of the press-formability.

In developing the new ”MX67”， an appropriate amount of copper was added to the conventional 6000-series and the amounts of magnesium and silicon were closely controlled. Furthermore， by optimizing the production process， the press-formability has been improved while good bake-hardenability has been retained. In other words， properties required of materials for automotive body panels have been balanced at high levels.

Since MX67 can also be applied to trunks and fenders， in addition to engine-hood exposed and unexposed panels， its use is expected to grow as a material that can contribute to the ever-accelerating trends towards lighter cars.

For further information about this release， please contact:

Mr.Toba， Flat Products Division， Tel: 03-3275-6061
Mr.Kanke， Public Relations Center， Tel: 03-3275-5021