Carbon-fiber composites offer a variety of advantages for car and truck manufacturers, including lighter weight, better corrosion resistance and higher impact strength than aluminum and steel.

DEARBORN, MI—Roofs made of carbon fiber. Plastic windshields. Bumpers fashioned out of aluminum foam.What sounds like a science experiment could be your next car. While hybrids and electrics may grab the headlines, the real frontier in fuel economy is the switch to lighter materials.

Several big hurdles need to be overcome before there will be more widespread use of carbon-fiber composites in the auto industry. Major issues include material cost, high-volume processing, repeatable quality and overall cost effectiveness.

Traditionally, it has been difficult to manufacture large quantities of carbon-fiber composites. That drawback has hindered widescale use of the lightweight material in the mainstream auto industry. However, engineers in Germany have developed a new process that makes it possible to use injection-molding technology.

A European consortium called ACOMPLICE (Affordable Composites for Lightweight Car Structures) recently embarked on a two-year program to develop low-cost materials for mainstream automotive applications.

Carbon-fiber reinforced composites are popular in the aerospace and marine industries as a lightweight alternative to aluminum, steel and other metals. The material is also used to produce railcars, wind turbine blades and sporting goods.

PARIS—French auto parts supplier Faurecia and the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology have agreed to work together to develop advanced industrial processes for automotive composites.