“…The multi-disciplinary research into self-pierce riveting, enabling its introduction into the industry, has been global, involving companies including Audi, BMW, General Motors, Peugeot-Citroën and Jaguar Land Rover and research groups in Australia [16], China [17], France [18], Germany [19], Italy [20], Japan [21], Norway [22], Poland [23], Slovakia [24], UK and USA [25]. Resistance spot welding had traditionally been ignored as it was impossible to control in lightweight materials, and there was no guarantee that joints would be reliable.…”