Low-Carbon Steel Automotive Manufacturing Survey 2026 Results

The Low-Carbon Steel Automotive Manufacturing Survey 2026 was conducted by Automotive Manufacturing Solutions (AMS) in partnership with SSAB, a leading provider of low-carbon steel, to gather insights from a global audience of automotive professionals, including OEMs, tier suppliers, and other industry stakeholders.

 The survey captured an industry at an inflection point, whereby sustainability is rapidly progressing from aspiration to mainstream practice.

 Whilst automotive manufacturing remains heavily reliant upon steel, it remains one of the most energy-intensive materials to produce, therefore making the decarbonisation of steel production central to the automotive sector’s broader sustainability journey.

Overall, the findings suggest that while low-carbon steel not yet reached mainstream adoption in automotive manufacturing, momentum is building and the industry is clearly advancing toward a more sustainable, low-carbon future, with growing opportunities.

First and foremost, sustainability objectives are being driven by multiple forces, including regulatory pressures, customer and consumer expectations, alongside internal corporate environmental goals. Encouragingly, steel recycling is already well established within automotive manufacturing, providing a strong foundation for further progress.

Furthermore, the level of awareness and interest around low-carbon steel is very good. However, the survey underscores the need for better education, more precisely defining and communicating sustainable steel terminology, and communicating that low-carbon steel is cost effective, and crucially – exactly the same quality as conventionally produced steel.

With these cost pressures, terminology challenges, and rising regulatory demands shaping purchasing decisions, the industry is actively searching for more clarity, guidance, and thought leadership.

Key findings of the survey whitepaper:

1. Sustainability objectives motivated by regulatory compliance but also sustainable production considerations

Sustainability continues to climb up the agenda for virtually all industries. However, for the automotive manufacturing sector, the objectives behind that transition are wide-ranging, complex, and nuanced. Our biennial Low-Carbon Steel Automotive Manufacturing Survey 2026 illustrated this well.

Firstly, whilst the survey identified the leading objective as lowering carbon footprint it was noteworthy that beyond that headline finding, there was also a broader and much wider-ranging set of regulatory compliance objectives supporting the push to sustainability, primarily climate change mitigating objectives, such as using renewable, environmental regulations, low emission production, and also climate responsibility and social responsibility.

This would suggest that even within the automotive manufacturing industry vertical, there is a wide range of opinion about what’s behind sustainability objectives, and that is not a surprise given the highly diversified, globalised and very long and complex automotive supply chain. Clearly the sustainability priorities and approach taken by a high-volume automotive OEM would be somewhat different to a smaller low volume Tier 2 component supplier.

However, it is notable that beyond the regulatory factors being imposed upon companies through emissions targets, mandates and regulations to mitigate climate change, that there is another strong dimension to sustainability – sustainable production - to ensure materials and component production remains sustainable, illustrated by the strong reporting of recycling / scrap content, and a circular economy in the survey results.

Q. When it comes to sustainability which objectives are most important for your company?

2. Low-carbon steel adoption led by internal carbon reduction strategy, supported by regulatory compliance considerations

Moving beyond broader sustainability objectives and drilling down into the primary driving forces for automotive manufacturing companies moving towards low-carbon steel, the results were revealing of the subtly differing dynamics at play.

Notably, internal net-zero / carbon reduction commitments were the dominant factor, followed by brand / reputational considerations. Of note, investor / ESG pressure also featured as a significant factor in purchasing strategy for low-carbon steel. These findings would strongly indicate that moving to low-carbon steel is first and foremost a conscious choice used to enhance company image, and is being supported by environmental regulatory compliance, rather than being regulatory driven.

The list of other regulatory factors supporting the adoption of low-carbon steel included Customer or OEM contractual requirements, national / regional regulation, and the various regulatory systems including CSRD, CBAM, SBTi etc.

Q. What is primarily driving your company's move towards low-carbon steel?

3. Recycling of steel is firmly established in automotive manufacturing, but there is room for improvement

Encouragingly, the large majority (72%) of automotive manufacturing companies have already established steel recycling targets. In fact, nearly half reported Yes, 50%+ of content. Only 16% reported that they had not implemented a steel recycling target at all, and 13% did not know.  However, the small but significant proportion of stakeholders that have not yet implemented steel recycling targets indicates that there is still some room for improvement to achieve the recycling of steel among 100% of automotive manufacturers.

Q. Have you set up a target for recycled steel content?

4. Challenges highlight cost as the leading factor, but better education & thought leadership is required

Whilst low-carbon steel has progressed from the nascent stage to currently being in the early adopter phase, many stakeholders often cite a variety of barriers to adoption.

Unsurprisingly, cost effectiveness (41%) clearly emerged as the leading challenge for industry stakeholders in adopting low-carbon steel.

However, cost is never the only consideration, and education is required around the slight cost premium, and the tangible gains to be made in customer and consumer brand image which can counter this.

Notably, there were a surprisingly wide range of other challenges that industry experts identified as preventing the adoption of low-carbon steel.

For example, limited availability (23%), and relatively few suppliers (23%) were noted as significant issues, indicating that whilst solid demand is there - if there was more supply, choice and availability, that there could be a higher rate of adoption for low-carbon steel.

Perhaps of most concern was the false perception that low-carbon steel is of unknown quality / performance (20%). It’s vitally important to dispel this myth. To be clear, low-carbon steel is exactly the same quality as conventionally produced steel and has exactly the same manufacturing characteristics.

This key survey finding profoundly indicates that more awareness and education is required around this specific issue to allay the false concerns around adopting low-carbon steel.

Q. What are the perceived challenges in adopting low-carbon steel?