Slowly but surely carbon-fiber is taking its place as the must-have material in the automotive industry. According to Autocar, Klaus Draeger, BMW's R&D chief, said that carbon-fiber will be used in the structure of the next 7-series, BMW's top series. The carbon-fiber will be used in a mix with more traditional materials such as aluminum and steel and supposedly be used in the production of the roof, hood and trunk.

These aren't structural components, so the influence of their use is to save weight, in developing technologies for the production of carbon-fiber materials, and as a declaration of intent.