汽车轻量化和一体化压铸是降低油耗、提升续航的重要途径，在需求推动下，汽车轻量化及一体化压铸的渗透率将持续提升。
早在2010年，东风开发的E30车型，就是国内“奥杰公司”采用全铝焊接技术，就是减轻车辆重量。
“瘦身”是大势所趋
轻量化指在保证汽车强度及安全性能的前提下，尽量降低汽车的整备重量。
研究表明，如果燃油车减重10%，油耗将降低 6-8%；如果新能源车减重100kg，续航里程将提升10-11%，同时降低20%的电池成本和日常损耗成本。
对于传统燃油车和新能源汽车而言，轻量化技术能够提升动力系统工作效率，从而减少能量消耗、提升整车续航，逐渐成为各大整车及零部件企业的重要技术方向。
特斯拉在轻量化的基础上使用一体化压铸技术，引领新一轮的技术创新。
一体化压铸技术能够使车身一次性成型，免去先分体冲压后焊装的复杂过程，大幅简化制造流程；由于只有1-2个大型零件，一体化压铸技术能够免去大量零件连接造成的累计误差，制造精度得以提升，同时能节省大量的财力和物力，进一步提升汽车轻量化程度。
Model 3(配置|询价)后车身底板采用了传统工艺，由70个零部件组装而成；Model Y(配置|询价)采用了一体化压铸技术，后车身底板整体由2个大型铸件组成，连接点由700-800 个减少至约50个，制造时间从1-2小时减少至3-5分钟，下车体总成重量将降低 30%。
据特斯拉的消息，下一步计划使用一体化压铸技术制造完整的下车体总成，将约370个零部件压铸为2-3个大型铸件，重量将进一步减少10%，从而提升约14%的续航里程。
在特斯拉的引领下，国内多家铝合金压铸零部件公司开始布局一体化压铸技术，购入多台巨型压铸机用于车身结构件等领域的一体化压铸。
铝合金是理想的汽车轻量化材料，提高车辆安全和燃油经济性的同时，减少汽车全生命周期的碳排放量，广泛应用于底盘、车身、动力系统等领域。
作为汽车的核心部件之一，汽车底盘在整车重量中占比达27%，仅次于白车身和动力总成。与车身相比，底盘轻量化技术和工艺更成熟，成本更低，底盘轻量化是整车轻量化的重要领域。
目前底盘轻量化的主要路径是以铝合金代替钢铁，根据国际铝业协会的数据，铝合金在动力系统的渗透率达90%，汽车底盘与其相比仍是蓝海市场。
车身是整车重量占比最高的部分，也是轻量化潜力最大的领域，传统汽车中以高强度钢代替普通钢材能减重约 11%，采用铝合金则能减重约40%。
与传统汽车相比，新能源汽车三电系统将导致整车重量增加，从而影响续航对于相同车型，三电系统将导致整车额外增加200-300kg的重量。电池包是重量最大的部分，约占整车重量的18-20%，其中电池包壳体（电池盒）约占电池包重量的10-20%，是电池包中重量占比仅次于电芯的部件。在电池能量密度提升逐渐进入瓶颈期后，电池盒轻量化成为新能源汽车的重点领域。
当前阶段兼顾性价比和轻量化效果的电池盒最佳轻量化方案是挤出铝型材下壳体和 SMC上盖的组合，随着碳纤维、镁合金等材质的价格下降，电池盒轻量化方案有望迎来进一步优化。
高门槛，低集中度
根据文灿股份招股说明书，2018年我国压铸行业相关企业数量约12600家，其中生产压铸件的企业数量占比70%以上，但大部分供应商的轻量化压铸件产能较低。
国内铝合金压铸企业大致分为三类：一类是整车企业旗下的铝合金压铸厂，如长城汽车旗下的精工汽车压铸分公司，比亚迪旗下弗迪动力的精工中心，这类企业目前主要配套母公司。第二类是国内主机厂与外资压铸公司成立的合资公司，如上汽华域皮尔博格有色零部件(上海)有限公司，华域和莱茵金属各占 50%股份，配套上汽大众、一汽大众及上汽通用。第三类是数量众多的第三方铝合金压铸供应商，如上市公司文灿股份、广东鸿图、爱柯迪、拓普集团等。该类企业二级供应商居多，配套采埃孚、博世、法雷奥、威伯科等变速箱、刹车、转向等系统供应商。
文灿股份成立于1998年，公司主要从事汽车铝合金精密压铸件的研发生产。2020年公司完成对法国上市公司百炼集团的收购，百炼集团产品包括汽车制动系统、进气系统、底盘结构件等领域的铝合金铸件。
文灿股份是国内铝合金压铸车身结构件的先行者，2014 年公司就成功研发了车身结构件，并在2014年实现车身结构件的量产。目前公司对特斯拉、奔驰汽车、上海蔚来的车身结构件均已进入量产阶段，是国内少数能够批量生产的铝合金车身结构件的企业。2021年，公司订购包括2台6000T压铸机在内的7台大型压铸机，用于一体化车身结构件研发制造，在一体化压铸方面布局较快。
广东鸿图也已经进入小鹏汽车配套体系，双方将同步开发一体化结构件。最新的消息显示，公司开发的6800T新能源汽车超大型一体化铝合金后地板压铸结构件产品(以下简称“一体化结构件”)于2022年1月17日成功试制。
此外，泉峰汽车、拓普集团、爱柯迪等压铸企业也在一体化压铸领域展开相应布局规划，未来将进一步增强公司产品及技术实力。
拓普集团于2021年9月订购21台压铸单元，其中涵盖7200T、4500T 及 2000T等不同规模的压铸设备，预计将提升一体化压铸件产能；泉峰汽车南京总部的2700T压铸机已经进入量产使用状态并实现供货，5000T的压铸机预计四季度将交付用于产品量产，此外公司在马鞍山生产基地又购入多台大型压铸设备，匈牙利工厂也将布局压铸设备，为产能释放夯实基础；爱柯迪于2022 年1月发布公告拟发行16亿元可转债，其中部分募集资金将用于引进800T-8400T不等的国内外中大型精密压铸单元。
随着新能源汽车渗透率持续上升，汽车轻量化及一体化压铸件规模将不断扩大， 布局轻量化及一体化压铸件的公司将受益。进入产能释放阶段，产能利用率提升将促进盈利能力改善，投资者可以持续关注。
Driven by factors such as the tightening of fuel consumption standards for fuel vehicles, the increase in the subsidy threshold for electric vehicles, and the pressure of new energy credits, vehicle and component manufacturers urgently need new technical paths to reduce consumption and save energy.
Automobile lightweight and integrated die-casting are important ways to reduce fuel consumption and improve battery life. Driven by demand, the penetration rate of automobile lightweight and integrated die-casting will continue to increase.
As early as 2010, the E30 model developed by Dongfeng is the domestic "Aojie company" using all-aluminum welding technology, which is to reduce the weight of the vehicle.
"Slimming" is the trend
Lightweight refers to reducing the curb weight of the car as much as possible on the premise of ensuring the strength and safety performance of the car.
Research shows that if the weight of the fuel vehicle is reduced by 10%, the fuel consumption will be reduced by 6-8%; if the weight of the new energy vehicle is reduced by 100kg, the cruising range will be increased by 10-11%, and the battery cost and daily wear and tear cost will be reduced by 20%.
For traditional fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles, lightweight technology can improve the efficiency of the power system, thereby reducing energy consumption and improving vehicle battery life. It has gradually become an important technical direction for major vehicle and parts companies.
Tesla uses integrated die-casting technology on the basis of lightweight, leading a new round of technological innovation.
The integrated die-casting technology enables the body to be formed at one time, eliminating the complicated process of stamping first and then welding, which greatly simplifies the manufacturing process; since there are only 1-2 large parts, the integrated die-casting technology can avoid the problems caused by the connection of a large number of parts. Accumulated errors, the manufacturing accuracy can be improved, and at the same time, a lot of financial and material resources can be saved, and the light weight of the car can be further improved.
Model 3 (Configuration | Inquiry) uses traditional technology to assemble the rear body panel from 70 parts; Model Y (Configuration | Inquiry) uses integrated die-casting technology, and the rear body panel as a whole consists of 2 large castings , the connection points are reduced from 700-800 to about 50, the manufacturing time is reduced from 1-2 hours to 3-5 minutes, and the weight of the lower body assembly will be reduced by 30%.
According to Tesla's news, the next step is to use integrated die-casting technology to manufacture a complete lower body assembly, die-casting about 370 parts into 2-3 large castings, and the weight will be further reduced by 10%, thereby increasing by about 14%. % of the cruising range.
Under the leadership of Tesla, a number of domestic aluminum alloy die-casting parts companies began to deploy integrated die-casting technology, and purchased a number of giant die-casting machines for integrated die-casting in areas such as body structural parts.
Aluminum alloy is an ideal lightweight material for automobiles, which can improve vehicle safety and fuel economy while reducing carbon emissions in the entire life cycle of automobiles. It is widely used in chassis, body, power system and other fields.
As one of the core components of the car, the chassis accounts for 27% of the vehicle weight, second only to the body-in-white and powertrain. Compared with the body, the chassis lightweight technology and process are more mature and the cost is lower. The chassis lightweight is an important area of vehicle lightweight.
At present, the main path for lightweight chassis is to replace steel with aluminum alloys. According to the data of the International Aluminum Association, the penetration rate of aluminum alloys in the power system reaches 90%, and the automobile chassis is still a blue ocean market compared with it.
The body is the part with the highest weight in the whole vehicle, and it is also the area with the greatest potential for lightweighting. In traditional cars, replacing ordinary steel with high-strength steel can reduce the weight by about 11%, and using aluminum alloys can reduce the weight by about 40%.
Compared with traditional vehicles, the three-electric system of new energy vehicles will increase the weight of the whole vehicle, thus affecting the battery life. For the same model, the three-electric system will lead to an additional weight of 200-300kg of the whole vehicle. The battery pack is the heaviest part, accounting for about 18-20% of the weight of the whole vehicle, of which the battery pack shell (battery box) accounts for about 10-20% of the weight of the battery pack, which is second only to the battery pack in weight. core components. After the improvement of battery energy density gradually entered a bottleneck period, the lightweight of battery boxes has become a key area of new energy vehicles.
At the current stage, the best lightweight solution for the battery box that takes into account the cost-effectiveness and lightweight effect is the combination of extruded aluminum lower shell and SMC upper cover. to further optimize.
High threshold, low concentration
According to the prospectus of Wencan Co., Ltd., in 2018, there were about 12,600 related enterprises in my country's die-casting industry, of which the number of enterprises producing die-casting parts accounted for more than 70%, but the production capacity of lightweight die-casting parts of most suppliers was low.
Domestic aluminum alloy die-casting enterprises are roughly divided into three categories: one is the aluminum alloy die-casting plants under the vehicle enterprises, such as the Seiko Automobile Die-casting Branch under Great Wall Motors, and the Seiko Center under BYD’s Fudi Power. These types of enterprises are currently mainly supporting parent company. The second category is the joint ventures established by domestic OEMs and foreign die-casting companies, such as SAIC Huayu Pierburg Nonferrous Parts (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Huayu and Rheinmetall each hold 50% of the shares, supporting SAIC Volkswagen, FAW Volkswagen and SAIC GM. The third category is a large number of third-party aluminum alloy die-casting suppliers, such as listed companies Wencan Co., Ltd., Guangdong Hongtu, Aikedi, Top Group, etc. Most of these enterprises are second-tier suppliers, supporting ZF, Bosch, Valeo, WABCO and other system suppliers such as gearboxes, brakes, and steering.
Wencan Co., Ltd. was established in 1998. The company is mainly engaged in the R&D and production of automotive aluminum alloy precision die castings. In 2020, the company completed the acquisition of Bailian Group, a French listed company. Bailian Group's products include aluminum alloy castings in the fields of automotive braking systems, air intake systems, and chassis structural parts.
Wencan Co., Ltd. is a pioneer of aluminum alloy die-casting body structural parts in China. In 2014, the company successfully developed body structural parts, and in 2014 realized mass production of body structural parts. At present, the company's body structure parts for Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, and Shanghai Weilai have all entered the mass production stage, and it is one of the few domestic enterprises that can mass-produce aluminum alloy body structure parts. In 2021, the company ordered 7 large-scale die-casting machines, including 2 6000T die-casting machines, for the R&D and manufacturing of integrated body structure parts, and has a faster layout in integrated die-casting.
Guangdong Hongtu has also entered the supporting system of Xiaopeng Motors, and the two parties will simultaneously develop integrated structural parts. The latest news shows that the 6800T new energy vehicle super-large integrated aluminum alloy rear floor die-casting structural products (hereinafter referred to as "integrated structural parts") developed by the company were successfully trial-produced on January 17, 2022.
In addition, die-casting companies such as Chervon Automobile, Top Group, and Aikedi are also launching corresponding layout plans in the field of integrated die-casting, which will further enhance the company's product and technical strength in the future.
Top Group ordered 21 die-casting units in September 2021, including 7200T, 4500T and 2000T die-casting equipment of different scales, which is expected to increase the production capacity of integrated die-casting parts; the 2700T die-casting machine at Chervon Automobile's Nanjing headquarters has entered mass production The 5000T die-casting machine is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter for mass production. In addition, the company has purchased a number of large-scale die-casting equipment in the Ma'anshan production base. The Hungarian factory will also deploy die-casting equipment to lay a solid foundation for the release of production capacity. ; Aikedi announced in January 2022 that it plans to issue 1.6 billion yuan of convertible bonds, and part of the raised funds will be used to introduce domestic and foreign medium and large precision die-casting units ranging from 800T to 8400T.
As the penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to increase, the scale of lightweight and integrated die castings for automobiles will continue to expand, and companies that deploy lightweight and integrated die castings will benefit. Entering the production capacity release stage, the increase in capacity utilization rate will promote the improvement of profitability, and investors can continue to pay attention.