Inner & Outer Applications
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Aluminium exterior sheet metal for automotive
Body exterior panels shape how a vehicle is perceived and have to meet the highest demands in terms of material and processing. Hoods, doors, fenders, and tailgates need to support sophisticated designs, premium surface finishes, and reliable paint results. Aluminium provides the ideal foundation for these requirements. The material combines low weight with high formability, making it possible to realize even complex geometries reliably. With AURA, Speira supplies aluminium sheet as raw material for automotive outer panels that meets these requirements reliably in series production.
What are aluminium outer panels in automotive?
Outer panels cover all visible body components of a vehicle. These typically include hoods, doors, fenders, and tailgates, and depending on the vehicle concept, also roof panels. As visible parts, they play a key role in defining the vehicle’s exterior appearance and are therefore essential to both design and brand identity.
Even the smallest irregularities can show through in the paint finish and affect visual quality. For this reason, aluminium outer body panels need to provide a uniform, reproducible surface for downstream processes such as painting. Aluminium in automotive is particularly well suited to meet these requirements: it is lightweight, highly formable, and supports consistent quality in series production, whether for hoods and fenders, aluminium door outer panels, or aluminium exterior sheet for car roofs.
From first idea to inquiry: we support you with the right solution
Planning a new exterior application or looking to evaluate an existing material? Get in touch with our team. The more details you can share about alloy, component, and dimensions, the faster we can suggest a suitable solution.
AURA – aluminium solutions for outer panels in automotive
AURA is Speira’s product family for aluminium exterior body applications. Its three lines Base, Form, and Gloss are developed around the typical requirements of outer panels and deliver proven series stability, maximum formability, and optimized surfaces for premium paint quality. All AURA solutions are based on process-stable 6xxx alloys and are designed to integrate seamlessly into existing automotive manufacturing processes.
- Benefits of AURA for design and production
- Premium surface quality for visible components with demanding optical requirements
- Optimized paintability for a uniform paint finish in series production
- Defined surface topographies for reproducible forming and painting processes
- Support for established automotive processes such as e-coat (CDP) and downstream painting
- Compatibility with proven joining techniques including bonding, welding, and mechanical fastening
- Compatibility with proven joining techniques including bonding, welding, and mechanical fastening
The Speira AURA portfolio for aluminium exterior body applications
AURA Base is the proven entry-level solution for standard exterior applications. It offers a well-balanced property profile combining formability, strength, and process reliability, and is widely qualified for use in automotive series production.
- Proven property profile for standard exterior geometries
- Series-tested process reliability for OEM programs
- Typically supplied as a 6xxx alloy such as EN AW-6016 or EN AW-6960
AURA Form has been developed for outer panels with complex geometries and demanding forming requirements. The line offers defined elongation values and a wide forming window that integrates reliably into existing manufacturing processes, even for challenging component designs.
- Maximum formability for design-driven exterior geometries
- Reliable forming window for stable series production
- Typically supplied as a 6xxx alloy such as EN AW-6016
AURA Gloss is the premium line in the AURA portfolio, developed for visible parts with the highest demands on surface quality and paint appearance. The line has been specifically optimized for flawless paintability in the e-coat process, ensuring a uniform, premium paint finish.
- Optimized surface for the most demanding visible-part requirements and premium paint appearance
- Designed for demanding e-coat and painting processes in series production
- Typically supplied as EN AW-6016 (T4), e.g. AURA Gloss 6F24
Surface treatment for aluminium outer panels in series production
For outer panels, surface quality is critical for achieving a uniform paint finish, strong adhesion during painting, and long-term corrosion resistance of the component. Speira supplies AURA raw material with a defined surface topography, precisely tailored to the requirements of body manufacturing. The material is available either with a smooth mill-finish surface or with an EDT texture.
This is followed by a chemical passivation through conversion coating (typically Gardobond X4591), which inhibits corrosion and improves paint adhesion in the downstream e-coat process. Finally, the material is coated with corrosion protection or with lubricants that provide corrosion protection, such as Anticorit, Ferrocoat, or Hotmelt E1. These coatings prepare the material for the forming process and at the same time serve as a protective layer until further processing.
Process reliability for OEM programs
The material properties of outer panels need to remain stable and reproducible throughout the entire series production process. Speira ensures this level of process reliability through a fully integrated production line that combines annealing, surface treatment, and quality control in one process. In the continuous annealing line, material properties are precisely set and monitored across a 140-meter process section. Each coil then passes through a complete surface treatment over a further 160 meters, where the material is degreased and cleaned, then passivated, inspected, and coated with lubricant. Advanced inspection systems detect even the smallest deviations, ensuring the consistently high quality required for visible components.
Take a look inside our production lineRecycling-friendly alloys for aluminium outer panels
Sustainability has become a core element of modern vehicle concepts. At the same time, materials used in automotive applications must meet the highest standards in terms of quality, processability, and process reliability. Speira’s recycling-friendly alloys for vehicle manufacturing are developed to meet both demands. These alloys are designed to accommodate higher scrap content without changing the proven material properties.
The recycling-friendly variants integrate into existing production processes without requiring fundamental adjustments. As experts in aluminium recycling, we contribute to circular value creation in line with our guiding principle, “Building a circular world that works.”
Download the “Recycling-friendly Alloys” whitepaper
Speira: your partner for aluminium outer panels for aluminium outer panels
Speira has been a trusted partner for aluminium in the automotive industry for many years, supporting customers in the development of modern outer panels. AURA is designed around the key requirements of exterior applications, combining deep process expertise for visible parts, proven surface know-how, and series-tested solutions for the outer skin of the vehicle.
With 11 production sites in Germany and Norway, the world’s largest aluminium rolling mill at Alunorf, and the world’s largest finishing plant in Grevenbroich, Speira operates a production base that reliably supports series requirements at any scale. Today, Speira aluminium sheet goes into more than four million vehicles per year.
Planning an exterior application? We’re here to support you
Whether you’re starting with a first idea or a concrete specification, our team is ready to take on your inquiry. The more details you can share about the component, alloy, and projected volume, the faster we can assess your request and get the conversation started.
