ArcelorMittal will launch a new high-strength automotive steel later this year, throwing down the gauntlet to its rivals in the race to make cars lighter¹.

安赛乐米塔尔(ArcelorMittal)将于今年晚些时候发布一款新型高强度汽车用钢，此举将在降低汽车重量的竞争中向对手发起挑战。

The world’s biggest steel producer by tonnage said that its new grade, called Usibor 2000, would be about one-third stronger than those currently available for carmaking.

这家全球产量最高的钢铁制造商表示，这款新型用钢被称为Usibor 2000，其强度将比现有的汽车用钢高出三分之一左右。

“It’s lightweight because the material is so strong that you need a lot less of it to achieve the same functionality,” said Greg Ludkovsky, head of research and development at ArcelorMittal.

安赛乐米塔尔研发部门总监格雷格•路德科夫斯基(Greg Ludkovsky)表示：“它有助于减重，因为这种材料强度非常高，要实现同样的功能需要更少的用钢。”

Tightening² regulations on exhaust emissions³ in the fight against climate change are forcing automakers to improve their fleets’ average fuel efficiency. Alongside improvements in internal combustion⁴ engine technology and developments in electric vehicles, one of the main ways is by reducing mass.

在应对气候变化的努力中，针对尾气排放的监管力度加大，这正迫使汽车制造商提高汽车的平均燃油效率。除了内燃机技术的改进和电动汽车的发展，主要的方法之一是降低汽车重量。

While steel remains⁵ the material of choice in automotive, there is increasing competition from other substrates, such as aluminium⁶ and plastic composites, which can offer weight advantages.

尽管钢材仍是汽车的首选材料，但它正面临其他板材日益激烈的竞争，例如具备重量优势的铝塑复合板。

This was illustrated⁷ when Ford⁸ switched to aluminium for the body of its 2015 F-150 pickup⁹ truck, the best-selling vehicle in the US for more than three decades.

福特(Ford) 2015款F-150皮卡改用全铝车身就表明了这点，这款车型是30多年来美国最畅销的。

ArcelorMittal said that for applications requiring complex shapes, its Usibor 2000 product would bring potential weight saving of up 10 per cent on the previous best steel grade. It is more than three times stronger than leading automotive aluminium alloys¹⁰, according to the company. Launch is expected by the end of this year in Europe and mid-2017 in the US.

安赛乐米塔尔表示，对于构造复杂的形状，其Usibor 2000产品将令部件重量潜在比以前最好的钢材品级减少10%。据该公司称，这种品级用钢的强度是领先汽车用铝合金的3倍多。预计这款产品将于今年底在欧洲发布，2017年年中在美国发布。