which process of car making do you think will consume highest energy

yes it is the painting ... it is estimated that about 1/3rd of the total energy consumption of any car manufacturer will go to the painting department only

More than melting down steel to make parts? Thousands of them?

wow its an interesting fact to know. well giving a lustrous look to a car is that big a process starnge. well one thing is for sure paints give a definitely personal feel to the owner as it reflects his/her own personality.

I would argue that is not true today. Cars are now painted with water based paints, and that technique takes a lot less process heating to cure the paint. The paint tunnel at Porsche uses about 240Kwh (30 ea of 8 Kwh infrared lamps) when heated by electricity. They cure 6 bodies per hour. Each Kilowatt is about .25, so six cars get painted for $60, or $10 each. Contrast that to the stamping and welding department that uses about 50Kwh per car, or $ 12.50. It takes about 16 man hours to assemble a Porsche (this does not include labor for machining parts, or labor from suppliers like wire harnesses) and wages and benefits are $ 74 per hour. Health care and pension is $ 43 per hour, so each car has $ 688 of that in the assembly before it rolls off the line. That is by far the most expensive part of the car.