2018 Ford Focus forged in flames with boron steel, making it safer than ever

5 November 2018 | Ford of Europe has just published a spectacular video and media release where it compares its use of boron steel – also known​​ as hot stamping steel – with knights in armour, robots and lasers. Steel is hotter than ever in the automotive business!

"Once used to construct armour, and now found in skyscrapers, boron steel strengthens the all-new Ford Focus, making it safer than ever."

"The all-new 2018 Ford Focus makes extensive use of boron steel – the strongest steel used in the auto industry – within the car's safety cell. This helps to create a survival space in the event of an accident. In addition, the use of boron, also found in skyscrapers, helps the new model to achieve a 40 per cent improvement in the car's capability to withstand head‑on crashes."

"We are building on techniques used to strengthen steel for thousands of years, incorporating modern materials and automation to speed and refine the hot-forming process. The resulting boron steel safety cell helps to make the all-new Focus one of our safest vehicles ever."
Dale Wishnousky, vice president, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe.

​"The first fully automated hot-forming process shapes and cuts parts of the car – which are integral to protecting drivers and passengers – using giant furnaces, robots and 3,000° C lasers.

The hot-stamping line – fully integrated within the company's Saarlouis Vehicle Assembly Plant in Germany – was built as part of a recent €600 million investment in the Saarlouis facility. Hot stamping is an integral part of the production of the all-new Ford Focus that was awarded a maximum five-star Euro NCAP safety rating.

Hot-stamping steel parts are subjected to temperatures of up to 930° C; unloaded by robots into a hydraulic press that has a closing force up to 1,150 tonnes; and then shaped and cooled. The boron steel is so strong by this point that a laser beam hotter than lava is used to precision-cut each piece into its final shape."

• Ford Europe press release about its all-new Ford Focus, October 2018: Knights in Armour, Robots and Lasers: Ford is First to Fully Automate Process That Helps Make All-New Focus Safest Yet
• More info about our Usibor^® 2000 and Ductibor^® 1000​, ArcelorMittal's 2^nd generation of boron steel

Source and video/picture credits: Ford of Europe​