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| July 17, 2008
Alcoa, Yutong Introduce Environmentally-Friendly Buses for Beijing Games
New, Aluminum Intensive Bus Body 46%
Lighter, More Fuel and Emission Efficient
BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alcoa (NYSE:AA), the world’s leading aluminum
company, and Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Company (Yutong), China’s
largest bus manufacturer and the number two producer in the world, today
introduced two new environmentally-friendly bus prototypes that will be
displayed and road tested during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in
Beijing next month. The new aluminum-intensive bus body is approximately
46 percent lighter than a traditional bus and, therefore, requires less
fuel and emits fewer greenhouse gases.
The new buses feature Alcoa’s spaceframe
technology – used in automobiles such as the
Ferrari 612 and all Gran Turismo Ferraris, as well as the Audi A8 which
was just awarded the 2008 European Inventor of the Year Award by the
European Commission and the European Patent Office for the development
of the Audi A8 and its use of high-strength, low-weight aluminum to
build lighter, more fuel efficient and safer vehicles –
as well as Alcoa Dura-Bright® forged aluminum
wheels, Alcoa aluminum side and roof panels, and Alcoa fasteners.
The new Yutong buses will now enter extensive road trials, including
helping to service transportation needs in Beijing during the Olympic
Games and other major cities in China. The newly designed buses are part
of a partnership to apply world-class structural design, materials and
manufacturing technologies to develop a new generation of
energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly buses for China’s
growing commuting public.
“The partnership between Yutong Bus and Alcoa
on the new sustainable bus demonstrates long-term commitment to the
support of our government’s policy to build
mass transportation vehicles in harmony with society –
people and the environment,” said Mr. Tang
Yuxiang, Chairman and Chief Executive of Zhengzhou Yutong.
“We realize that reducing the weight of
tomorrow’s short- and long-range buses will
be essential for improving their sustainability,”
added Mr. Tang Yuxiang, “and that the
intelligent application of aluminum is one of best methods possible to
achieve such mass reduction.”
A recent study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in
Heidelberg, Germany, which was presented at the 2007 China Aluminum and
Transportation Conference in Dalian, revealed that a weight reduction of
100 kg in a diesel-powered city bus making several stops will save 2,550
litres of fuel and significantly reduce C02 equivalent green house gas
emissions over its lifetime.
“Our goal, of course, was to work with Yutong
to achieve significantly more than 1000 kg weight reduction per vehicle,”
according to Mr. Jinya Chen, Alcoa’s
President for the Asia-Pacific Region. “In
fact, we achieved a more than 1300 kg weight reduction –
nearly one and a half tons -- or approximately a 10 percent total
reduction. The vast majority of the savings include a 46 percent
reduction in the bus body, compared with traditional steel bus bodies in
use today.
“Our companies believe that through the
combination of aluminum spaceframe design and advanced manufacturing
technologies, we can achieve significant weight reductions while
maintaining the safety and enhancing the sustainability performance of a
new family of buses,” Mr. Chen added.
The aluminum industry is projected to be greenhouse gas neutral by the
year 2025 as a result of projected use in the transportation market.
This means that the savings in greenhouse gas emissions from lighter
weight, more fuel efficient vehicles will more than offset emissions
generated when the metal is first produced.
“Yutong Bus Company looks forward to working
with Alcoa on the road trials and to combine the best thinking of both
companies to explore the opportunities that aluminum presents to develop
a whole new family of ‘Green’
buses, not only for China but the world. This project shows Yutong and
Alcoa as industry leaders in innovation and social responsibility,”
Mr. Tang Yuxiang concluded.
About Yutong
Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Yutong
Group”), with its head office in Zhengzhou,
Henan province, is a large-scale enterprise group with bus making as its
core business, with engineering machinery and real estate as additional
strategic businesses as well as managing its investment portfolios. In
2006, the sales income of Yutong Group reached high up to
RMB10,139,800,000, taking up over 22% of the domestic market. In the
same year, 22,198 units of Yutong buses were sold and 2,002 buses were
exported with the export amount up to USD105 million, increasing 28%
compared with the corresponding period last year. The number of Yutong
buses all over the world exceeds 120,000, making Yutong an international
large-scale bus manufacturing enterprise.
About Alcoa
Alcoa is the world leader in the production and management of primary
aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina combined, through its active
and growing participation in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa
serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction,
commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design,
engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses to
customers. In addition to aluminum products and components including
flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, Alcoa also
markets Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems,
precision and investment castings, and building systems. The Company has
97,000 employees in 34 countries and has been named one of the top most
sustainable corporations in the world at the World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com
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