The author | baked bun under the stars
Lightweight is one of the topics that cannot be avoided in the automotive circle today and even in the future.
How important is the weight of the car, just take a chestnut. For every 10 kg reduction in the weight of a pure electric vehicle, the cruising range can be increased by 2.5 km. Therefore, in order to solve the problem of mileage anxiety, in addition to the three electric (battery, electronic control, motor) system itself to give force, making the car lighter is also one of the means.
To achieve this goal, walking on two legs may be a good way: on the one hand, we can use some more cattle materials, such as aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, carbon fibers and the like, on the other hand, we can try to use better processes, such as die casting processes.
There are already many reports on the former. Today we will take a disk of die casting process key equipment - die casting machine, to explore the mystery behind this large machine.
Schematic diagram of die casting machine (Yizumi official website)
The die casting machine market is not beautiful, it all depends on the downstream
Since die casting machines are not common in our lives, let's first simply popularize science. Die casting is actually one of the most widely used metal forming processes in the casting process. In layman's terms, it is to use pressure to shoot the melted metal into the mold, and when it cools, the metal is fixed. Magnesium alloys and aluminum alloys are commonly used die-casting materials, of which light aluminum alloys account for more than 80%.
Schematic diagram of the die casting process
The die casting machine exists to complete the die casting process. So in what scenarios does die casting machines generally come in handy? More than half of the walls (65%) of the country have been taken by cars and motorcycles, and this proportion has been on the rise in recent years. It can be said that the die casting machine runs fast or not, all depending on the demand for automobile manufacturing.
Die casting machine application field (China Industry Information Network)
In fact, what really makes the die casting machine out of the circle is the integrated die casting process launched by Tesla last year and tried it in Model Y. Traditional automobile body manufacturing requires hundreds or even thousands of welding of various parts, and welding is also done through the automation of the robot arm, and the investment cost is high. The integrated die casting used by Tesla's predecessors reduced more than 70 parts to 1-2. While realizing the lightweight of light vehicles, it also improves production efficiency and reduces production costs.
Killing three birds with one stone, Tesla made making cars as simple as making toys, and formed a catfish effect, and at the international die casting exhibition in the middle of last year, Bühler released a new die casting machine model. Domestic player Lijin Group released the world's largest 9000T giant intelligent die-casting unit at that time.
The industry is better than learning to catch up and help, one can not be less.
Model Y integrated die casting
In recent years, with the acceleration of the penetration rate of new energy vehicles (the penetration rate of new cars is expected to exceed 23% this year), the requirements for lightweight bodies made of aluminum have become more intense, which is also an important benefit for players selling shovelers - die casting machines. The market size of automotive die casting machines is also increasing year by year, with an annual compound growth rate of more than 20%, and the scale in 2020 has exceeded 17 billion yuan.
Die casting market size (Prospective Industry Research Institute)
There are not many players, each with its own characteristics
The players who talk about this track are mainly from Germany, Switzerland, Japan and our country. Although the mainland started late, it is also catching up.
Take the Swiss Bühler Group as an example, it sits in Switzerland, the United States and Jiangsu three major die casting machine production bases, with more than 160 years of history, the die casting machine is located in the sector revenue of more than 3 billion yuan, but also has the world's largest 9200T die casting machine, is a well-deserved big brother.
After watching the foreign moon, let's take a look at our own players. The concentration of domestic die casting machine is high, the revenue of Lijin Technology (00558) die casting machine accounts for nearly 70%, and the market size of its die casting machine exceeds 50%, and the Tesla integrated die casting mentioned above is the equipment provided by Lijin. In second place, 300415 has a share of almost 15%.
Market share of domestic die casting machines (announcements of each company)
From the perspective of financial performance, the revenue of die casting machines in 14 to 19 years increased from 1.42 billion yuan to 2.19 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of 9%, due to the impact of the epidemic in 20 years, there was a slight decline, and the company's overall gross profit margin was also maintained at about 25% (the gross profit of the die casting machine was not disclosed), which was relatively stable. Only 16% of the revenue of the second place Yizumi (2020 data) comes from die casting machines, and its gross profit margin is always above 30%.
Revenue of Lijin Die Casting Machine (Company Announcement)
Gross profit margin of Yizumi die casting machine products (company announcement)
Since the die casting machine can not only help achieve lightweight, but also improve efficiency and reduce costs, and improve the strength of parts, will players outside the city rush to it? That is, where are the barriers to the industry? The author believes that there are two main points:
1. Technology accumulation. Such a large equipment requires industry manufacturers to have a long period of accumulation and precipitation on the know how end of the process to ensure the yield of the product.
2. Customer advantages. As a device for auto body parts, once it establishes in-depth cooperation with well-known customers and opens up the supply system, it actually achieves its own achievements while achieving customers.
Finally, under the imperative trend of automobile lightweighting, players of die-casting equipment must seize the downstream growth opportunities on the one hand, and seize the wave of independent domestic substitution on the other hand. Hopefully, one day, you'll be able to:
Both hands must be grasped, both hands must be hard.