17/08/2023 | Press release

The technology enterprise Rheinmetall has won a automobile industry order for structural parts worth a figure in the low three-digit million euro range. Cast in a highly complex process, the parts will be used in a fully electric vehicle made by a well-known premium automaker. This new order constitutes another step forward on Rheinmetall’s transformational path to new forms of sustainable, environmentally friendly future mobility.

Starting in 2026 and for a period of ten years, lateral girders made by Rheinmetall will serve as lightweight structural parts for the customer’s fully electric high-performance models. The scope of supply encompasses hundreds of thousands of these fully processed parts. Based on a highly complex casting solution and designed to attenuate crash energy, the parts will support the chassis. Striking the right balance between wall thickness and weight is especially important here in order on the one hand to ensure stability and on the other to save energy by keeping the weight as low as possible. The Group won the order in the face of competition from rival companies in the pressure casting domain. 

In winning the contract, moreover, Rheinmetall has established itself as a long-term supplier of the carmaker, achieving greater diversification in the premium segment in the process. Back in 2020, the Group already won a nine-year order from the same customer for C-pillars worth a figure in the high single-digit million-euro range. Successful cooperation in this project has now resulted in the award of a major new contract. Looking ahead, Rheinmetall expects to see additional follow-up orders in future.

The Group is an expert partner in lightweight engineering, supplying established automakers and innovative new players alike with chassis parts, etc. Each new contract underscores the high-tech enterprise’s successful transformation into a supplier of solutions for modern, environmentally sustainable automotive drive systems.

KS HUAYU AluTech GmbH will carry out the project in Neckarsulm, Germany. The company is a joint venture co-owned by Rheinmetall and HUAYU Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. (HASCO), a subsidiary of China’s SAIC 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 percent stake in the joint venture.