
Car Body Parts 2026
Material. Process. Progress
Car Body Parts – Materials and Forming Processes premiered in 2024 and has quickly gained significant momentum offering two intensive congress days discussing advancements in the development and production of structural and outer skin car body parts.
Building on the success of the past two editions, Automotive Circle is ready to convene its international network of materials and process experts again to evaluate the crucial link between car body material innovation and advanced production techniques.
On June 23-24, 2026, in Bad Nauheim, Germany, we are once again delighted to host this two-day congress, which features two parallel sessions dedicated to discussing the latest progress in car body parts production processes and the corresponding material developments.
Overview of parallel congress sessions

Call For Speakers
We cordially invite you to actively contribute your latest findings to your event: Let us know about your recent relevant progress and submit your suggestion for a half-hour technical presentation, reporting about your latest developments, applications or study results.
To do that, please send your convincing and concise abstract describing your suggested presentation using our online submission form no later than
January 12, 2026.
In particular, the congress seeks to discuss progress in the following areas:
- latest series car body material concepts, especially for next-generation BEV
- new steel, aluminum, magnesium or composite/plastics material developments, enabling
- improved in-use car body part performance and durability
- a reduced scope-3 climate gas footprint / a higher recycled materials content
- better formability and processability
- greater design freedom
- new or wider application windows in the car body.
- efficient primary and secondary forming processes for both structural and outer skin car body parts, e.g. via
- panel forming innovations in the tool shop and press plant, from method planning/simulation to tryout and series production equipment
- aluminum or steel hot forming process improvements
- multipart integration via “megastampings”
- aluminum megacastings and their capabilities and applicability
- megacasting process development
- magnesium thixomolding and its application possibilities
- extrusion, roll- or blow-forming processes and their efficient use for car body parts
- specific semi-finished goods and their benefits (e.g. tailor-welded/tailor rolled blanks, hybrid materials)
- improved forming process control / quality control tools
- smart digitalization and data management in press plant, foundry, tool shop
Whenever it is meaningful as a complement to a presentation, the accompanying exhibition of demonstrator car body parts or full car bodies is possible and highly encouraged.
Based on your abstract, your proposal will be evaluated in collaboration with the members of the OEM Advisory Board to the congress. In that process, the novelty of your results, their industrial relevance and the engineering-oriented, technical character of your proposal will be of particular importance. Please do avoid the impression of a mere product promotion.
Please find advice on how to be most successful with your abstract in the online submission form.
Further key dates
Notification of acceptance of your proposal: by February 2026
Publication of the congress program: early March 2026
Submission of your English-language presentation documents as a pdf for the congress proceedings: May 29, 2026
Please note that, for each accepted contribution, one speaker per presenting company (max. two different companies) will be invited to the congress, exempt of the congress fees.
Congress Program
The conference program will be published in March 2026.
Participants
Exhibition & Sponsoring
Become a sponsor or exhibitor
Take advantage of the high coverage of the Automotive Circle and profit from the sponsoring options before and during the events. Show your competence and services, matching the conference subjects, to the numerous car body engineers of international OEM. Thus, you are strengthening your brand awareness in the automotive industry!
Come on board as an exhibitor or sponsor and benefit from this excellent platform to strongly promote your company’s capabilities as a reliable supplier!
Review
Impressions of Car Body Parts: Materials and Forming Processes 2025
For more information on Car Body Parts: Materials and Forming Processes 2025 (e.g. Agenda, participants), take a look here!
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