Carat 920
Source: Bühler AG

The Chinese automotive supplier Duoli Technology and the Swiss technology company Bühler Group have signed a new contract for the delivery of four new Carat 920 Mega casting solutions. The order is one of the largest single orders for Bühler Group's Mega casting business. It confirms the growing trend towards the production of large structural parts for electric vehicles and underlines Bühler's expertise in delivering outstanding die casting solutions.

Duoli produces large castings for many well-known global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive industry. The supplier entered the die casting business in December 2020 and started its collaboration with Bühler AG in 2021 with the installation of the Carat 610 Mega casting solution.  Thanks to the reliability and consistent quality of the Carat 610, Duoli won further orders and had to increase its production capacity. The purchase of a first Carat 920 and two more Carat 610s was the next logical step. On December 18, 2023, Duoli celebrated the start of production with the Carat 920 at its plant in Yancheng.

The rapid increase in demand for electric vehicles (EV) in China is leading to increased demand for large structural components, which convinced Duoli to expand its Carat portfolio with four more Carat 920s.Jianqiang Jiang, General Manager and Director of Duoli, says: "This order for four Carat 920s underlines our ambition to be a driving force in the global Mega casting business. With this new capacity, we can reliably produce rear undercarriages for our customers in a single pass. "With the latest acquisitions, Duoli will become one of the largest suppliers of Mega casting parts in the world with three foundries in China.

The Carat series is Bühler's answer to the accelerating global trend towards larger structural castings in modern vehicle architectures. The two-platen technology with clamping forces of 10,500 to 92,000 kilonewtons (kN) is specially designed to produce large and complex parts such as front and rear underbodies in one piece. Robin Lu, Director Die Casting Bühler Greater China Region, says: "We work closely with our customers. This enables us to provide them with the technologies they need to succeed in a fast-moving and competitive market. We are honored that Duoli relies on our Carat die casting solutions."

Cornel Mendler, Managing Director Die Casting at Bühler, says: "This latest order is proof of our innovative strength and shows that we correctly recognized the trend towards large structural parts for electric vehicles years ago. This trend is gaining momentum with the transition from traditional cars with combustion engines to electric vehicles - not only in China, but also in North America and Europe."

Source: Bühler AG