Market Trends of North America Automotive Parts Aluminum Die Casting Industry
Vacuum Die Casting is Expected to Witness the Fastest Growth Rate
The vacuum die casting segment of the market studied is expected to witness a CAGR of nearly 8% during the forecast period. There have been significant developments and improvements in the conventional die casting process. Currently, the ultra-high-vacuum die casting process is applied for producing large and thin component parts, such as space-frames and pillars, which are usually welded to automobile chassis. Electrical and hydraulic components in an automobile work simultaneously. Reliability and quality are given prime importance in transmission parts. The transmission system in an automobile is a complex combination of mechanical functions. It is prone to extreme conditions and environments. This enhances the importance of integrity. Valve bodies, stators, and clutch pistons are some of the commonly die casted transmission parts in the automotive industry.
Ultra-vacuum die casting produces better weldable automotive products than most other die casting processes. However, products produced through this process are large and require huge-sized die casting machine, like 2,500-4,000 metric ton of die clamping force. This impacts the popularity of the ultra-high-vacuum die casting process among OEMs and large die casters.
However, the vacuum die casting production process eliminates air from the mold and allows the front of molten metal to merge freely without forming any shuts or pores, which is a major issue in pressure die casting process.
A sudden shift from pressure die casting to vacuum may not be possible, due to the higher productivity and ease of manufacturing automotive die casting parts, which employ the pressure die casting method. However, this change is gradual, and it expected to continue to increase during the forecast period.
United States Captures Largest Market Share
In North America, United States is one the major market player in 2019, in competition with Canada and Mexico. In May 2019, the United States produced more than 1,145.4 thousand tons of aluminium an increase of over 33% over May 2018. The country economy is growing, and the disposable income of the middle-class consumers is also increasing. This, in turn, reflects positively on the growing demand for vehicles. Over the past five years, owing to the low production costs in the country, the demand for vehicle production went up drastically. The automotive industry in the United States experienced a sharp drop in demand in March 2020, vehicle sales went down by 38% year-on-year due to impact from COVID-19 pandemic. However, with several initiatives taken by the country to boost the automotive industry, passenger car sales are expected to increase over the forecast period, which, in turn, is expected to drive the demand for aluminium die casting in the country.
With the rise in demand for electric vehicles in the country, the demand for aluminium die casted parts is expected to increase in the coming years. With technological advancements the manufacturers are expected to see raise in demand for car exports which intern will increase demand for die casting automotive parts as manufacturers are looking to reduce car weight in order to keep up with emission norms across the world. The automobile industry is highly dependent on the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, owing to the high emissions of the automotive units. The move by the EPA to raise the miles per gallons (mpg) standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025, is helping the aluminium die casting industry, as the automotive industry concluded that the only way to get to those mileage standards is by manufacturing lightweight vehicles. But the die casting industry is also facing threat from the newly emerging composites market as composites provide the same physical properties and are much lighter than metal castings. However, during the forecasted period aluminium die casting market is expected to witness high competition with slow growth rate and not much competition from composite material as they are very expensive as compared to traditional metals.
