The automobile chassis is manufactured from various metal formed parts that are joined together mainly by welding. Under same load conditions, each material behaves differently depending on its properties. The knowledge of these properties is crucial and requires experimental data. For an isotropic material model, the data needed can be extracted from a simple tensile test. But, for orthotropic materials, more experimental equipments are necessary. In such cases, the finite element method can be used for the numerical approximation of the problem. In this paper, a numerical modeling of the mechanical response of an Interstitial Free (IF) steel subjected to a low strain rate tension is described, in the particular case of isotropic linear elasticity and orthotropic plasticity under the isotropic hardening assumption. The modeling of the material behavior related to the ductile fracture was based on the approach of Hillerborg et al. (Cem Concr Res 6(6):773–781, 1976, [1]). Firstly, the theory behind the model was explained. Afterwards, the finite element model was described and the related parameters were defined. Finally, the numerical results, performed using the finite element software ABAQUS®, were compared to the experimental data determined through the tensile tests carried out by Cumin et al. (Tech Gaz 23(1):229–236, 2016, [2]) on the HC260Y steel.