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Possible materials' solutions to mass reduction in the transport industry are to be found within particulate-reinforced aluminium alloy matrix composites. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how thixoforming may solve material and manufacturing problems for metallic composites with silicon carbide or silicon particles. Silicon carbide reinforced alloy was thixoformed successfully, at several reinforcement levels, showing a well-maintained particle distribution. Hypereutectic aluminium - silicon material was produced with fine uniform microstructure giving a high Young's modulus and low coefficient of thermal expansion. The results provide alternative approaches for solving slightly differing design problems and applications.