As European governments continue to set deadlines on when all new cars sold must be zero emissions, Tata Steel has predicted that production of steel for vehicle structure, as well as electrical and plated steels, will actually increase of 4.2m tonnes a year by 2050.

These are the findings from a Tata Steel study, contrary to previous speculation that non-ferrous materials – such as aluminium and carbon fibre – would overtake steel in popularity.

According to the report, those materials remain prohibitively expensive and are less sustainable when looking at the full lifecycle of the vehicle.

The increasing demand for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV) will instead drive growth in steel supply, as car manufacturers look to save weight in the most cost-effective way possible.