The Castings business unit of Rheinmetall’s Materials and Trade division has booked two new orders. The first order comes from one of the top ten global automakers, a company, headquartered in Shanghai, the product portfolio of which includes vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, hybrid models and fully fledged e-vehicles. A joint venture of the same company placed the second order.

The nominations are for cylinder heads and battery trays, respectively, including several million units of the former and nearly a million of the latter. The cylinder head order is worth a figure in the lower three-digit million-euro range, while the battery trays represent sales in the lower two-digit million-euro zone.

Both components will be produced in China. The battery trays will be used in the automaker’s new battery box. Production starts in 2025 and is set to run for seven years.

Rheinmetall’s Castings unit has longstanding experience in producing highly complex, sophisticated aluminum cast parts; the successful nomination of its industrialization and production services continues the expansion into components for e-mobility.

Crash- and certification-relevant aluminum cast parts must meet the most stringent safety requirements, which in turn imposes high requirements for the casting process and subsequent processing. High strength, absolute imperviousness to moisture and grime coupled with narrow tolerances and strong resistance to corrosion must be guaranteed in order to assure long-term safety and functionality in a high-voltage operating environment.

Starting in 2023 and for a period of four years, the cylinder heads will be produced in a gravity casting process and installed in hybrid vehicles.

HASCO KSPG Nonferrous Components (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (KPSNC) will carry out both orders in China. The company is a global joint venture co-owned by Rheinmetall and HUAYU Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. (HASCO), a subsidiary of China’s SAIC Motor group. Rheinmetall AG’s Castings business unit consists of two large companies: KS HUAYU AluTech GmbH in Europe and HASCO KSPG Nonferrous Components (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (KPSNC) in China. Rheinmetall and HASCO each hold a 50% stake in the joint ventures.