Jaguar XJ Body-In-White

The Body-In-White (BIW) is the complete assembled body shell, ready for painting, as illustrated for the Jaguar XJ, and schematically for the Audi A8 (missing doors, trunk and hood to expose also the frame and car floor).

The car-body constitutes the largest fraction of mass of a standard high volume car. Replacing steel by aluminium can reduce the body mass by around 40 %. There are "all-aluminium" car-bodies, such as the examples shown (Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ) and the latest development is the hybrid car-body, combining aluminium and steel, brought to market by the BMW 5 series. In many new cars of various brands, it is common the use aluminium for example for the car bonnet to lighten specifically the front of the vehicle.

Panel   Extrusion   Casting Laser seam Audi A8 Body-In-White

Some examples of European cars containing aluminium body-parts (not exhaustive):

• Mercedes E & S class
• BMW 5 & 7 series
• Peugot 307 & 607
• Renault Laguna
• VW Lupo Eco version
• Citroën C5
• Volvo V70 & S60 & S80
• Landrover Discover
• Range Rover
• Audi

BMW Hybrid design with Aluminium front; Source: BMW