The U.S. operations being included in the proposed sale of 12 business units of Alcan Aluminium Ltd.'s U.K. subsidiary, British Alcan Aluminium Plc, involve seven plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California employing about 550 workers.

The East Coast units include Reade Manufacturing of Lakehurst, N.J., which makes and markets magnesium particulates, and Alcan units in Flemington, N.J., and Aspers, Pa., specializing in the production and sale of zirconium chemical products for flame-proofing, antiperspirant, paper coating and other applications.

Also on the block are Luxfer USA, which produces high-pressure compressed gas cylinders at plants in Riverside and Placentia, Calif., and Graham, N.C.; and the Superform USA facility in Riverside which makes superplastic aluminum pressings for aerospace and architectural applications.

Montreal-based Alcan Aluminium said last week that it had entered exclusive negotiations to sell the 12 business units, which have 35 locations in the United Kingdom and one in Ireland, as a single group.

The intended buyer was identified as a new company formed by Mercury Asset Management Plc's development capital arm, Mercury Development Capital. There has been speculation that the package eventually would be broken up, although Lazard Brothers, which since last March has been helping British Aluminium sell the package, reportedly indicated last week that this was far from decided and a Mercury spokesman dismissed the idea of any immediate unbundling.

Other operations involved in the 12-business package include the production and marketing of aluminum extrusions, wire and cable, plate and household foil.

Among other things, the Holland plant is the producer of the domestic auto industry's first extrusion-based aluminum subframes, which have been used in the Chevrolet Corvette sports cars since 1993.

Although no announcement of the executive change has been made by Hydro Aluminium or its parent company, Norsk Hydro A/S in Norway, company sources said Oestbye left Raufoss Automotive Co., Raufoss, Norway, to take the top job at the Michigan concern.

Raufoss Automotive, where Oestbye served as general manager of structural products, is an automotive components manufacturer that is 40-percent owned by Norsk Hydro.

Hydro Aluminium Automotive Structures (HAAS) also has major operations in Europe, including a plant in Tonder, Denmark, that makes extrusion-based spaceframes for some of the automakers, including Renault SA in France and Lotus Cars Ltd., Norwich, England.

The Holland, Mich., operations of HAAS began making the Corvette subframes a little more than three years ago, and those subassemblies were the first units employing extrusions to be installed in a line of North American-built cars.

Norwegian light metals giant Norsk Hydro AS Tuesday set plans to add another aluminum extruder to its lengthening chain of extrusion operations built up mainly via acquisitions in Europe and the Western Hemisphere in the 90s. The Oslo-headquartered aluminum, magnesium and energy company said it had agreed to purchase Acro, a two-press extruder situated near Sao Paulo, Brazil for an undisclosed sum.

The move came close on the heels of an announcement by Norsk Hydro that it had agreed to buy Rackwitz Aluminium GmbH., an ailing aluminum extruder and smelter in Leipzig, for an undisclosed sum.

Norsk Hydro said it plans to add a third press at the Acro unit, renamed Hydro Aluminium Acro, and have the plan running at 17,000 metric tons a year by next March.

The company's plans for Rackwitz include getting two extrusion presses back in operation some time next year and combining the modestsized smelter with its own facilities in Cleraux in Luxembourg.

Rackwitz resumed operation in January of this year after having been out of action in 1996 during a search for new financing. Norsk Hydro said it expects to have the two-press Leipzig plant running at 12,000 tons a year initially and 15,000 tons a year eventually.

Audi's second-generation aluminum car will prove out production process for the 2003 A6 midsize sedan -- and high volumes.

Back in 1976, VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech, then head of development for Audi, paid a visit to the Coors plant in Colorado to look at the production of aluminum beer cans. It's taken the best part of a quarter century to go from cans to cars, but Piech's vision of a high volume, mass produced aluminum automobile has moved a step closer with the launch of the Audi A2.

The A2 is Audi's second aluminum intensive vehicle. The first, the limited volume A8 luxury sedan launched in 1994, pioneered the productionization of Audi's innovative aluminum space frame (ASF) technology. The A2 takes lessons learned from the A8, and moves ASF technology downmarket for consumers and across the supplier chain. It will be built in four times the volume of the A8, and be used to prove out production processes for the 2003 Audi A6, which is currently planned to use ASF construction.

With prices starting from the equivalent of $22,000 in Britain, the A2 is an expensive small car -- about the same price as the larger 1.6L VW Golf -- even though in absolute terms, it is the world's most affordable aluminum intensive vehicle. What's crucial, however, is the A2 delivers on the much vaunted promise of aluminum autos, offering lower weight, better fuel economy and fewer emissions without compromising performance, comfort or safety. In this context the A2's sporty handling, funky styling and superb build quality are bonuses.

The genesis of the A2 dates back to 1991, when Piech announced that an affordable production car capable of fuel consumption of 3.0 litres per 100 km (about 80 mpg) should be feasible by 2000. That goal, Piech insisted, could not be achieved simply through powertrain and transmission improvements. He calculated that both vehicle mass and rolling resistance would have to be cut by 35%. It was against this background that the product specification of the A2 was determined.

By definition, then, the A2 was to be an efficient and roomy small car, with lightweight construction and a low coefficient of drag (Cd). Audi engineers calculated that a 10% reduction in vehicle weight translated to a 5% reduction in real world fuel consumption, while a 1% reduction in the coefficient of drag meant a 2% reduction in fuel consumption. Baseline modeling suggested a vehicle weighing 1,815 pounds and with a 0.25 Cd, powered by a 1.2L direct injection turbodiesel, could achieve the 3.0 liters/100 km fuel consumption bogey, with acceptable performance and driveability.

These are in fact the parameters for the fuel economy leader version of the A2 due next fall (see sidebar), but initially the car is being launched with 1.4L gasoline and the 1.4L TDI direct-injection turbodiesel engines. Weighing 1,969 pounds and 2,178 pounds, respectively, and capable of returning 47 mpg and 66 mpg, these are still light and efficient by conventional small car standards. Tougher safety laws and consumer demand for higher feature content mean the weight of a typical "C' segment car has increased by up to 25% over the past 15 years, with an average 45 to 50 mpg diesel-engined model now tipping the scales at 2,640 pounds.

The 1.4L 4-cylinder gasoline engine is a low-friction variant of the dohc, 16-valve powerplant used in VW's "B" segment Polo. It develops 74 hp at 5,000 rpm, and 93 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm, driving the front wheels through a magnesium-cased 5-speed manual transmission. Claimed fuel consumption of 47 mpg is partly due to the low idle speed of just 680 rpm. The gasoline A2 is a lively performer, accelerating from 0 to 62 mph in 12 seconds, and reaching a top speed of 108 mph.

The 1.4L TDI is a 3-cylinder unit that shares the same bore centers as the new 4-cylinder Golf DI diesel. This enables the engines to be built on the same line. The TDI also develops 74 hp, but at 1,000 rpm lower than the 1.4L gas engine. A key feature of the TDI is a new high-pressure Bosch fuel injection system, which permits injection pressures of up to 29,725 psi (2,050 bar) and helps the engine achieve its peak torque of 143 lb-ft at just 2,200 rpm. As a result, the 66 mpg 1.4L TDI pulls strongly in the mid-range, and delivers similar performance to the petrol version -- 12.3 seconds 0 to 62 mph and 108 mph top speed -- despite being 209 pounds heavier, due to its cast-iron block, aluminium transmission casing and more robust gear clusters and axles.

Where It Beats Mercedes

The A2's front suspension is MacPherson strut with forged steel wishbones, while at the rear is a hydroformed torsion beam axle. Steering is electro-hydraulic power assisted rack and pinion, with the electric motor modulating the hydraulic pressure in the system on the basis of steering wheel angular velocity and vehicle speed. Audi claims the system can be delivered and installed as a ready module, and encoded on line to give vehicle-specific steering characteristics, reducing complexity and cost.

Rising demands for quality and a shortening of product life cycles are prompting manufacturers to order extra services from aluminum extruders, industry executives said.

For extruders that can provide extra services, downstream processing can mean charging customers by the part instead of by the pound. It also facilitates recycling of scrap and reduces questions on accountability for quality.

Although several extruders have been focusing on value-added work for more than a decade, the trend has accelerated in recent years, according to Donn W. Sanford, president of the Aluminum Extruders Council. "For the past two to three years, there's been a growing number of extruders adding value-added services at the request of their customers," Sanford said. "More extruders are offering the services, and the ones already offering them are offering more services.

"There's a tremendous surge in quality concerns. Quality control and time are big factors driving the downstream movement."

Shortened product life cycles are spurring the need for timely services, according to Dick Smith, president of Mideast Aluminum Industries, Mountaintop, Pa., a division of Indal Inc.

"If you can offer a variety of machines for extra processing, you can help a customer get a product to market quickly," Smith explained. "The customer doesn't have to invest in the machines because you can provide the service. If the product really takes off, then the customer may buy the equipment to process in house."

Providing value-added processing has been part of Mideast's strategy since its founding some 20 years ago, and it has been gradually adding to its services ever since, Smith said.

Improving service is the rationale for an upgrade now under way at Mideast. The company is adding 130,000 square feet to its extrusion and finishing plant. This work is part of a project to consolidate Mideast's Dayton, N.J., plant into the Mountaintop facility.

While Mideast's value-added processing helps some customers bring new products to market quickly, the services are being demanded by customers who wish to simplify existing manufacturing operations, as well.

"We're seeing a lot of customers who are finding it less cost-effective to do their own finishing in house as part of manufacturing and assembly operations," Smith said. "If they have the extruder do the work, they don't have to worry about dealing with scrap or meeting tolerances."

Precision Extrusion Inc., Bensenville, Ill., also is seeing a pickup in requests for value-added services from manufacturers looking to simplify their operations.

"Adding services makes for one-stop shopping," said Richard Zihm, the company's president. Manufacturers "don't have to send parts on to a fabricator or a finisher before they can use them. And with value-added parts, you don't have to worry about blame assessment if something out of specification arrives on the line."

An extruder in the Southeast concurred. "Once they get a part from us, it can go right into a machining center or right out onto the line," the extruder said. "In the past two years, we've seen a tremendous increase in requests for value-added processing."

Mideast's Smith said that providing downstream processing places a big responsibility on aluminum extruders because parts that are out of specification can be costly.

"Customers want rejection rates in parts per million," he said. "If you take an extrusion that would cost $1.10 a pound, then add $50 of machining per part, you don't want to scrap it."

Such quality concerns are what drives customers to ask for more from their extruders, according to Jim Sharpe, president of Extrusion Technology, Randolph, Mass. He said that turning to downstream processing helped the company reorganize and emerge from Chapter 11 creditor protection in the late 1970s.

"Having an extruder do value-added work initially looks more expensive, so some companies try to cut costs by doing work in house," Sharpe said. "After a while, a lot of these customers become willing to pay more for services so that they don't have to pay for mistakes."

Only about one-third of Extrusion Technology's investment is in extrusion equipment, Sharpe said, revealing that 85 percent of the company's business comes from customers seeking value-added services.

"The rest of our investment is in machining operations," he said. "We've become more focused on running our machining operations instead of being just an extruder."

The drive toward downstream processing is spurring an interest in the new 9000 regulations of the International Standards Organization (ISO), extruders said. The ISO 9000 standards were adopted by member nations of the European Community to ensure the quality of goods moving across borders as trade barriers were removed.

"A lot of companies coming to the U.S. are looking for this certification in their suppliers," said Mideast's Smith. "We currently are going through quite a learning process to get certified."

DETROIT -- In what is expected to be the biggest new automotive application of any kind for aluminum extrusion alloys getting under way this year, General Motors Corp. will switch the bumper beams on the front and rear of all of its standard-size cars in the Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac lines to aluminum from steel.

If GM builds and sells as many of those cars as it thinks it will, the new bumpers will consume 8.3 million pounds or more of aluminum per year, according to GM sources here.

That's more than the big automaker is expected to use in two other important new applications for aluminum extrusion alloys starting up this year--the engine cradles in two Chevrolet car lines and the radiator enclosures in standard-size Chevy, GMC and Cadillac sports utility vehicles (AMM, Dec. 17).

Because of all these applications as well as certain others, 1999 is shaping up as a breakthrough year for extrusion grades of aluminum, which typically are magnesium-silicide alloys, in the North American auto market. Although domestic automakers have been using light-alloy extrusions in their vehicles for years, the year-to-year increase in applications is generally small and relatively difficult to measure.

GM sources said the new bumper beams, which will weigh around 26 pounds per car, will be used on the -redesigned Buick LeSabres, Olds Auroras and Pontiac Bonnevilles coming out this year as 2000 models. The new Auroras will replace the Olds 88s in GM's product stable.

More than 14 million pounds of steel per year will be replaced by the aluminum bumper beams, these sources said. The reinforcement beams will be covered by plastic fascias on all three car lines and will serve as the principal structural components in the front and rear bumper systems.

GM will buy the beams from Hydro Raufoss Automotive, Holland, Mich., which is expected to get its metal from one or two sources. The likeliest suppliers of the aluminum 6082 alloy are Hydro Goldendale, Seattle, Wash., and/or Alcan Aluminium Ltd., Montreal.

Hydro Raufoss also will make the new extruded bumper beams that GM will employ on its redesigned Cadillac DeVille luxury cars for 2000, GM sources said. Altogether, the aluminum used in the new Buick, Olds, Pontiac and Cadillac car bumpers will exceed 10 million pounds annually. In the DeVille bumpers, too, the aluminum will be replacing steel.

NEW YORK -- Alcan Aluminum Corp. has hired away Stephen J. Bettcher, a 21-year veteran of the hotly competitive, $4-billion-a-year-plus aluminum can stock business, from Kaiser Aluminum Corp. as vice president, global can stock sales and marketing.

Alcan Aluminum, Cleveland-based U.S. arm of Canada's Alcan Aluminium Ltd., did some serious tire kicking at Kaiser Aluminum's big Trentwood, Wash., aluminum rolling mill at one point in 1998, but did not pursue the matter. Both the U.S. unit and the Montreal-headquartered parent company have been building up substantial aluminum can stock capacity in the '90s in the United States, Europe and Brazil.

Trentwood, along with four other large Kaiser plants in the United States, has been run with non-union personnel since the United Steelworkers went on strike Sept. 30.

Prior to his long stint as Kaiser Aluminum's vice president, can stock sales and marketing, Bettcher, who will make his headquarters in Cleveland, held sales positions in Kaiser's ingot, forgings, extrusions and sheet and plate departments. He has been chairman of the Aluminum Association's Aluminum Can Committee since 1991.

NEW DELHI, India - The Indian governments budget for fiscal 1998-99 provides protection for domestic primary aluminum producers with an additional 8-percent custom duty on nonferrous metals.

The budget, released by finance minister Yashwant Sinha this week, will boost the import tariff to 33 percent, benefiting such ingot manufacturers as Hindalco, National Aluminium Co. (Nalco) and Bharat Aluminium Co. (Balco).

Aluminium Association of India officials said that with increased production, the primary aluminum producers will be able to market their products more effectively and will find it easier to meet Indian demand for primary aluminum.

But the budget is not favorable to producers of secondary aluminum such as Indian Aluminium Co. Ltd. (Indal). The import tariff structure for ingots, downstream products, extrusions, foils and scrap remains at 25 percent.

Indal managing director Tapan Mitra said the new budget has not given relief to the secondary aluminum industry, which is facing tremendous pressure from demand constraints and competition from cheaper fabricated aluminum products. He said the industry had expected the government to increase the customs duty to 30 percent on aluminum sheet, foil and other extruded products.

This is one of those moments that make a motoring journalist's life. A car shaped for the future, first revealed as a radical 1997 Frankfurt motor show concept, is about to take to the road in a form ready for you, me or anyone to buy and use. I am going to drive it, and future is about to become present.

Seeing Audi's radical A2 under a motor show's bright lights is one thing, but how will it look out in the open, on real roads, interspersed among more prosaic fellow cars? (Terrific, actually.) Will people point and stare? (They do.)

And how will it feel to drive? That other future-radical car, the Citroen DS, was always best admired when stationary. On the move, its grumbly old engine sat oddly with the space-age shape and Dan Dare detailing, breaking the spell. The A2 shares its engines with Volkswagen's Polo and Lupo, so these engines are a point of contact with the known automotive universe. Might they, too, burst the bubble?

With radical looks goes radical construction. The A2's structure is an aluminium skeleton of castings and extrusions clothed in lightweight panels. It weighs 40 per cent less than if it were made of steel, to the great benefit of performance and fuel efficiency, but costs two-and-a-half times as much to manufacture. Audi has used this technology before, in the large, expensive and exclusive A8, but this is the first time a low-cost, mass- produced, profit-generating car has been formed in aluminium.

If the design language is unmistakably millennial Audi - the hefty wheel arches, the headlight shape, the domed roof - the size and proportions are more Mercedes A-class. The front wings are bendy plastic, the wheel arches are separate, easily-replaced mouldings, the roof has four stiffening ribs and the tailgate and rear window are cut far into it. There is no rear wiper, but the window has a "hydrophobic" coating. Do not let your dog lick it.

Inside, you will find a style and substance to shame both the A- class and Audi's own A3. Nearly every surface is soft to the touch, unless it is the aluminium of the gearlever stem, the glovebox catch or the dial surrounds. The design theme is bold, horizontal lines. You sit quite high, but not MPV-high; ahead of you is a twin-armed, single-bladed, pantograph windscreen wiper, behind you are just two foldable and removable rear seats. This is surprising, and bodes ill for the A2's role as a family transport capsule, but a three-seat row is optional. This lacks a full three-point belt for the centre occupant, which will come in due course.

Adults may find a lack of rear legroom, but children will fit comfortably. If they are small, you can take advantage of their short legs and specify the optional floor boxes which fit in the deep rear footwells. This extra storage space could be useful, because the boot is not large despite a small-diameter spare wheel, which needs to be inflated before use (an electric pump is supplied). Another option is the "open sky" full-length glass roof, complete with a sunscreen of aluminium mesh. It looks great, but cannot do much for the A2's lightweight credentials.

What appears to be the radiator grille is a plastic flap which flips down to reveal hinge-out orifices for oil and washer fluid, plus the dipstick. The bonnet does not hinge open, but is unclipped for servicing. Apparently, today's drivers dislike opening a bonnet and so neglect these essential checks. Now they need never be confronted with signs of mechanical mystery, and will not know what the A2's two 1.4-litre, 75bhp engine options - a four-cylinder petrol and a three-cylinder TDI turbodiesel - look like.

The TDI is the better choice for the A2-shaped, car-reinvention experience. Its deep thrum is a suitably off-beat soundtrack, and it delivers a torrent of torque absent from the quieter, smoother, freer- revving but blander petrol engine. The diesel A2 is much more economical, too, even though it weighs 990kg instead of 895. That extra weight is nearly all over the front wheels, so it is the petrol A2 that better delivers the agility, precision and lightness of dynamic touch that the lightweight construction promises.

But with quick, sharp steering and nearly lean-free cornering, both A2s are fun to drive. Do not be tempted by the optional fat wheels and ultra- low-profile tyres, though, because they destroy the suppleness you get with the standard footwear. You will need to develop a supple neck, too, because those thick, curved windscreen pillars block the view badly. On one twisty stretch of road, a preceding Renault 5 disappeared entirely.

The petrol A2 arrives here in September, and the pricier TDI follows in January. Should you buy one? Fuel consumption apart, it offers little practical advantage over a regular five-door hatchback. But that is not the point. Drive an A2, and you drive a piece of the future.