Atlanta’s rolled aluminium firm Novelis said this week that its operations in the Peoples Republic of China has linked up with one of the country’s top universities in an agreement to collaborate on increasing the use of aluminium in the country’s automotive industry.
Novelis’s Shanghai Customer Solution Center (CSC) will be working with the Tsinghua University Suzhou Automotive Research Institute (TSARI) on the task of increasing the industry’s already-rapid acceptance of aluminium in production. The agreement will have the organizations partnering on body-in-white applications for the entire range of automotive products, both electric and conventionally powered varieties.
Sifa Zheng, Vice President of TSARI and Professor of Tsinghua University said the collaboration will bring new blood into the innovation process.
“We are glad to have reached a strong partnership with Novelis. As an independent think tank in the Chinese automotive industry, TSARI is dedicated to accelerating the application of cutting-edge technological research, commercializing emerging scientific achievements, and facilitating the cooperative relationships between leading players and ourselves. I strongly believe that the newly established relationship shall bridge the gap between academic research in the automotive area and the landing of application for customers, which is one of our most important missions. With the MOU signed, the introduction of Novelis’ brand-new aluminum technology shall bring fresh perspectives and capabilities into the Chinese automotive aluminum industry.”
James Liu, Managing Director of Novelis China and Vice President of Automotive, Novelis Asia, noted the importance of the region to his firm.
“The Chinese market is a pivotal sector of Novelis’ development blueprint in Asia and we are more than pleased to be able to sign an MOU with TSARI. With the support of TSARI, we will continue to devote ourselves to the development and promotion of low-carbon, environmentally-friendly aluminum sheets, paving the path of our business, our industry, and our society towards a more sustainable and circular economy.”
Novelis is a subsidiary of Mumbai’s Hindalco Industries Ltd. Based in Atlanta, the firm accounts for almost half of Hindalco’s consolidated revenue. The world’s largest recycler of aluminium, Novelis conducts operations in ten different countries, employs around eleven thousand people, and reported US$11.2 billion in net sales for the most recent fiscal year.