Development status of high-end automotive mold manufacturing

In recent years, as China has become the world's largest producer and seller of automobile industry, the domestic automobile industry has developed rapidly. China’s huge auto market and its potential have forced auto companies in developed countries to take China as a “front line” and more and more global launch models have appeared in China.

The rapid development of China's auto industry has also brought a broad space for the development of domestic automobile molds. Luo Baihui, secretary-general of the International Model Association, pointed out that due to cost and market factors, the focus of mold manufacturing in developed countries has gradually shifted to developing countries represented by China. Comprehensive domestic and international factors have promoted the rapid development of the domestic mold industry, and many emerging automotive mold companies have emerged. According to the statistics of the Model Association in 2012, there are nearly 110 key mold and die companies, of which about 37% are stamping dies, and China has become a veritable automobile mold making country.

On the other hand, due to the slow technical upgrading of domestic high-end auto mold companies, the lack of technological innovation capabilities, and the lack of research and development capabilities of new mold technologies, the high-end mold development capabilities in China cannot fully meet the domestic automotive industry's supporting needs. There is still a large portion of molds that need to be imported. However, domestic high-end mold companies occasionally have to change their initial market position to seize medium and low-end markets because of insufficient production load. Although the enterprise's survival problem has been solved, due to the low profit margins in the middle and low-end markets, the amount of funds invested in R&D and technological innovation is very low. Under certain circumstances, a vicious circle has formed and the company has not entered a virtuous circle of development. The above reasons also leave us some distance away from the real car mold "manufacturing power."

Nowadays, due to the large number of domestic high-end automotive mold companies, the market competition they face is becoming increasingly fierce. In addition to meeting the Q (Quality), C (Cost), and T (cycle) requirements of traditional mold companies, domestic high-end auto mold enterprises will certainly become the key development direction for mold manufacturing in the future.