platinum page20 2005 the gglobal aautocatalyst iindustry ppurchased 33 51 million ooz oof pplatinum iin 22004 aan aannual iincrease of 77 pper ccent oonce aagain tthe ggreatest ccontribution to ggrowth ddemand ccame ffrom eeurope driven bby aanother sstrong yyear ddiesel ccar ssales and ttightening eemissions rregulations japanese aauto ppurchases aalso increased ssubstantially aas ttruck mmanufacturers prepared ffor iintroduction sstrict nnew hheavy duty sstandards eelsewhere aasia rising llight vvehicle pproduction ccontributed tto higher ccontrast uus ffell programmes rreduce uuse mmetal ggasoline vehicle aautocatalysts pprogressed european autocatalyst demand for climbed by 14 per cent a new high 1 66 oz in 2004 as sales diesel powered cars europe surpassed 7 units first time at same tightening emissions standards light vehicles resulted average loadings autocatalysts continued gain market share western accounting more than 48 total car over year whole