Most of the steels we use today in vehicle production weren't here ten years ago. But steel still is a technology that all of our customers understand. But very little of this is beyond what exists today with our customers. In his address, Darnall called for the supercar program to commission the design and production of a steel bodied, affordable midsize car weighing just 2,000 lbs. But Robertson believes steel has a distinct advantage in its cost component, one of PNGV's biggest challenges.
Steel is a viable option for a couple of reasons.
Of course PNGV is targeted at 80 mpg. That is meant to stretch technology. But I think we all recognize that if we achieve all of the other objectives, and we got to 72 mpg, we would be pretty happy. Steel clearly has got the greatest possibility of making the cost objective. In Geneva, there were a number of top-echelon automotive guys from the automakers.