The article mentioned clinching, and it tested as slightly better than welding in fatigue life. One assumes that rivets will be at least that good.
But how does this help if the alloy isn't weldable, with welds becoming brittle?
Deep but narrow welds can fracture easily. There was an military airplane crash that was traced to an electron-beam plug weld being used to prevent rotation of two forged components that were screwed together, this component being flight critical. Weld cracked, parts unscrewed, control was lost, aircraft was lost.
Don't know if this applies to cars, but the story popped up on the mention of deep narrow welds.
Joe Gwinn