1. Basic Situation of China's Automotive Die-casting Mold Industry
(1) Development Background of Automotive Die-casting Mold Industry
China's die-casting mold enterprises started in the early 1990s, mainly focusing on motorcycle parts die-casting molds. Since the 21st century, with the rapid development of China's automobile industry, some leading domestic die-casting mold enterprises have increased investment in advanced equipment, mainly producing medium-sized die-casting molds such as automobile brackets, clutches, oil pans, and manual transmissions, which has driven the rapid development of die-casting mold enterprises nationwide, and the mold manufacturing level and manufacturing technology have been greatly improved. At present, China's output of die-casting parts ranks first in the world, and the development cycle and production level of die-casting molds have been significantly improved. Die-casting molds can not only meet the needs of domestic large-scale and precision die-casting molds, but also be exported to traditional die-casting mold powerhouses such as Europe and the United States.
(2) Automotive die-casting molds are mainly aluminum alloy die-casting molds, and the demand for lightweight vehicles promotes the penetration rate of automotive aluminum alloy products and aluminum alloy die-casting
Automotive die-casting molds are mainly molds used to produce alloy materials such as aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy, and copper alloy, among which aluminum alloy die-casting molds account for the highest proportion.
Automotive lightweighting is an important way to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, and component design and manufacturing improvement is the key. Among them, aluminum alloy die-casting process has significant advantages in using lightweight materials and applying advanced manufacturing technology, promoting the integration of die-casting industry and automotive green development: aluminum alloy is light in weight, corrosion-resistant, and easy to process. With the advancement of vehicle lightweighting, the penetration rate of aluminum alloy parts has increased, and die-casting parts have been applied to body structural parts, engines and other parts. The national plan for the target of aluminum usage per vehicle for automotive lightweighting in 2025 and 2030 is 250kg/vehicle and 350kg/vehicle respectively, while in 2023, the aluminum usage per vehicle for traditional fuel/pure electric/hybrid passenger vehicles in China is 163kg, 202kg, and 224kg respectively, with broad market space. According to statistics, the global aluminum die-casting market size in 2021 was 69.4 billion US dollars, and it will reach 112.3 billion US dollars in 2030. As the core process equipment for aluminum alloy die-casting, the market demand for die-casting molds will continue to expand with the increase of the penetration rate of aluminum alloy castings in the automotive field.
2. Market Demand of China’s Automobile Die-casting Mold Industry
(1) China’s Automobile Production and Sales Volume Rank among the Top in the World, Supporting the Growth of the Automobile Die-casting Mold Market
With the rapid development of China’s automobile industry and the continuous improvement of the automobile supply chain, the global automobile industry is gradually shifting to China. China’s automobile production increased from 19.27 million vehicles in 2016 to 31.28 million vehicles in 2024, and its proportion in the global total automobile production also increased from 22.88% to 34.64%. China’s total automobile production and sales volume has ranked first in the world for 16 consecutive years.
(2) The Penetration Rate of New Energy Vehicles and Aluminum Alloy Die-casting Increases Simultaneously, Expanding the Market Size of Die-casting Molds
Due to the advantages of energy saving and energy structure optimization, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to increase. China’s *New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)* promotes its high-quality development. In 2021, the sales volume was 3.521 million vehicles (penetration rate of 13.4%), and in 2024, it reached 12.866 million vehicles (penetration rate of 40.93%), entering a stage of full marketization. Its die-casting mold products are mainly aluminum alloy die-casting parts. Under the demand for lightweight and energy saving and emission reduction, the penetration rate of aluminum alloy is steadily increasing, and the national plan sets the target for automobile lightweight aluminum consumption per vehicle in 2025 and 2030 at 250kg/vehicle and 350kg/vehicle, respectively. In 2023, the aluminum consumption per vehicle of traditional fuel/pure electric/hybrid passenger vehicles in China still has a gap with the target. With the increase of aluminum alloy penetration rate, the market demand for automobile aluminum alloy die-casting molds will continue to expand.
(3) The Launch Speed of New and Modified Models is Accelerating, Providing Growth Space for Automobile Die-casting Molds
In 2024, the number of registered new motor vehicle products in China was 23,967, and the compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2024 was 6.98%, among which the number of newly registered new energy vehicles increased by 25.66% year-on-year.
The launch of new car models in China has increased significantly, and the upstream mold industry has great development potential.
Automobile die-casting molds are important process equipment for automobile production. The mold development cycle includes mold design, machining part production, mold assembly, mold debugging and other links, accounting for about two-thirds of the entire development cycle of new car models.
With the increasing frequency of new and modified car models being launched, the requirements for product development cycles are getting higher and higher. According to the data, the development cycle of new car models has been shortened from about 4 years to 1-3 years, and the development cycle of modified car models has been shortened from 6-24 months to 4-15 months. The shortening of the product development cycle, mold development and design are related to the main stages of vehicle development, which requires mold companies to have strong independent research and development capabilities, as well as efficient technology development capabilities. For the development of key components, vehicle manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers usually require mold companies to participate in synchronous research and development. This not only puts higher demands on the research and development capabilities of die-casting mold companies, but also helps leading companies further expand their market share.
3. Favorable and Unfavorable Factors Affecting Industry Development
(1) Favorable Factors
1) Industrial policies are conducive to industry development
In recent years, a series of national industrial policies have created a favorable development environment for the die-casting mold industry: In May 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "Equipment Renewal and Technological Transformation Guidelines for Key Industrial Sectors" proposed the promotion of integrated die-casting production lines in the automotive industry; In March 2023, the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Casting and Forging Industry" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four departments listed the industrialization and application of advanced process technologies such as integrated die-casting forming as a development goal; the National Development and Reform Commission's "Guidance Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment" encourages the design and manufacture of large-scale and precision molds; the "Catalogue of Industrial Basic Innovation and Development" (2021 Edition) in 2021 included automotive aluminum sheet plastic forming technology and mold technology in the field of energy-saving and new energy vehicles; in the same year, the "Technology Roadmap for Energy-Saving and New Energy Vehicles 2.0" put forward requirements for automotive lightweighting, and its transformation will drive the development of upstream integrated die-casting molds.
2) The increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles brings continuous growth demand for automotive die-casting molds and integrated die-casting molds
New energy vehicles have clear demands for "energy saving and consumption reduction," and lightweight body structural parts are an important way to reduce the energy consumption of new energy vehicles. With the increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the market demand for lightweight die-casting molds and integrated die-casting molds in the new energy vehicle industry has increased year by year. Since 2016, global sales of new energy vehicles have maintained a fluctuating growth trend, increasing from 698,900 vehicles in 2016 to 17,529,000 vehicles in 2024, with an average annual compound growth rate of 49.60%.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's new energy vehicle sales reached 9.495 million units in 2024, with a penetration rate of 40.39%. The increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will drive the continued growth in demand for upstream automotive die-casting molds and integrated die-casting molds.
3) The global mold industry's manufacturing center is shifting to China, driving the overseas expansion of local mid- to high-end automotive mold industries.
Currently, the global mold industry's manufacturing center is shifting to China, and some local mid- to high-end enterprises are gradually going overseas. The improvement of domestic mold design and manufacturing levels has enabled the industry's overall import and export to maintain a trade surplus with exports exceeding imports. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's mold imports decreased to $1.025 billion in 2023 (a year-on-year decrease of 8.3%), and exports increased to $8.013 billion (a year-on-year increase of 4.4%). Moreover, China's mold industry has accumulated experience and reputation in exports, and its products are developing towards large-scale, precision, complex, and specialized process equipment integrating new technologies. Compared with other developing countries, it has technical advantages, and the transfer of the industrial manufacturing center has laid a good foundation for the industry's development.
(2) Unfavorable factors
1) Long manufacturing and delivery cycle, high working capital requirements
The automotive mold industry is a capital-intensive industry. Due to the high initial investment cost for purchasing core components and the existence of a certain project execution cycle, the requirements for working capital are relatively high. Some manufacturers with weak financial strength and limited financing channels are restricted by the cost of capital and cannot quickly expand their production capacity. If capital demand cannot be improved, the manufacturer's investment in technology research and development, as well as the expansion of production scale and the ability to undertake large orders, will be limited, which will restrict the enterprise's development.
2) Relatively fierce competition in the low-end product market
There are a large number of enterprises in the automotive mold industry, and the scale is relatively small. The market concentration of low-end products is low. Restricted by scale and service radius, most companies lack high-end competitive capabilities such as customer service and brand operation. Low-end mold manufacturers often compete through low-price strategies or sacrifice product quality in exchange for short-term benefits, which to some extent affects the improvement of high-end market benefits.
3) Structural shortage of mid- to high-end talents
As a technology-intensive and talent-intensive complex industry, the die-casting mold industry has strict requirements for the ability construction of professional talents. Qualified mold manufacturing professionals need a long training cycle, and excellent mold engineers need to improve their abilities through systematic professional training and long-term practical accumulation. On the one hand, there are few mid- to high-end technical talents who can skillfully master and flexibly apply cutting-edge technology and carry out the development and application of large and super-large integrated molds; on the other hand, there is also a shortage of composite management talents with both production management experience and industry technical background.
The above-mentioned structural imbalance in talent supply objectively restricts the industry's technological upgrading and large-scale development to a certain extent.
4. Competitive Landscape of Die-casting Mold Industry
The overall competitive landscape of China's die-casting mold industry presents a characteristic of "low-end fierce competition, high-end deficiency." Low-end die-casting mold manufacturers are small in scale, large in number, and have low concentration, showing a state of full competition. High-end large-scale die-casting molds have high technical barriers, complex mold structures, and usually have customized requirements, resulting in high market concentration. Among them, ultra-large integrated die-casting molds are larger in size and more complex in structure. At present, only a few domestic manufacturers have the ability to produce ultra-large integrated die-casting molds and achieve mass production applications, mainly including two types of manufacturers: professional die-casting mold manufacturers and large-scale die-casting manufacturers.
Post time: Jun-20-2025