“I expect 2010 will be better than last year,” he said. “I believe the industry will recover from the current downturn. MPIF and the remaining companies will be smarter, stronger, leaner, and better able to leverage PM’s future successes.”
Lutheran says that 2010 light-vehicle production in North America will increase to about 10 million vehicles and recovering to 12 to 14 million vehicles in the 2011–13 timeframe. He suggests that the powder metallurgy (PM) industry must devote more attention to working with transplant-automaker technical people. “We need to continue efforts to encourage more conversions to PM parts in transplant vehicles,” he says.
“We must also sell the benefits of PM as a green technology that uses recycled materials to both the transplants and the OEMs,” he adds.