The car industry will rely far more heavily on metals such as platinum and palladium in years to come.

That is the opinion of DaimlerChrysler's global procurement and supply boss Thomas Sidlik who told the Reuters news agency that as the industry faces increasingly tough emissions standards, automakers would turn to the metals to meet the requirements.

Hydrogen fuel cells in particular, which use platinum as a key catalytic element, are expected to see increasing use in vehicles and the use of precious metals in advanced catalytic converters should also increase, Mr Sidlik predicts.

"From time to time there are substitutions depending on platinum, rhodium and palladium prices going up and down, no question about it, but in general precious metals are going to increase, especially with fuel cells," he commented.

"There are a lot more precious metals in fuel cells. That's what you need to make the thing work."

Fuel cells create electricity through a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen, with water the only emission.

Their widespread use is currently being held back by financial constraints but many transit firms have already taken deliveries of fuel cell buses which are proving a success.


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