Development Trend of Automobile Injection Molds

The development trend of automotive injection molds is mainly reflected in technology upgrades, market expansion, green environmental protection and intelligent transformation, as follows:

1. Technology upgrades and innovations

High precision and high performance: High-end automotive injection molds still rely on imports, but the share of domestic companies in the high-end market is increasing year by year. Companies continue to increase R&D investment, introduce advanced mold design software and equipment, promote mold intelligence and automation, and improve mold precision and quality.

New material application: With the demand for lightweight automobiles, the materials of automotive injection molds need to meet multiple performance requirements such as high strength, wear resistance, and thermal conductivity. High-quality steels such as P20, 718, and H13 are suitable for high-precision, mass-production scenarios by improving hardness and wear resistance through heat treatment processes; aluminum alloys are often used in mold manufacturing for small-batch, high-precision parts due to their lightweight and strong thermal conductivity; pre-hardened steels such as 3Cr2Mo (P20) can be directly processed without secondary heat treatment, significantly shortening the manufacturing cycle and meeting the needs of rapid iteration of new energy vehicles; new composite materials such as modified plastics and high-performance engineering plastics (such as carbon fiber reinforced materials) are gradually being used in mold auxiliary components to further reduce weight and improve corrosion resistance.

Manufacturing process innovation: CNC and EDM are used for complex curved surface forming, with an accuracy of ±0.03mm, meeting the needs of precision parts such as battery pack shells of new energy vehicles; Wire cutting technology combines fast wire and slow wire to ensure the dimensional stability of mold parts, and the slow wire accuracy can reach 0.005mm, which is suitable for high-requirement parts such as headlight lenses; carburizing, quenching and other processes improve the surface hardness of steel and extend the life of the mold; the mold saving (polishing) process reduces the surface defects of injection molded parts through mirror treatment, and is widely used in automotive interior parts molds.

2. Market expansion and diversification

New energy vehicle field: With the rise of new energy vehicles, automotive injection molds will have greater application space in fields such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. New energy vehicles have diverse models and fast updates, and the demand for molds is large and demanding.

International market expansion: China's automotive injection molds are still highly competitive in the international market, and export prices remain stable. In 2025, China's injection mold exports to emerging markets such as Europe, South America, and Oceania will grow significantly, among which European business opportunities will increase by 69.8% year-on-year, and South American market orders in transportation, furniture and other fields will increase by more than 40%.

3. Green environmental protection and sustainable development

Driven by green manufacturing policies: The improvement of environmental protection requirements will prompt the injection mold industry to develop in a green and efficient direction. The research and development of molds for environmentally friendly materials (such as biodegradable plastics) has accelerated, and energy-saving molds with a 20% reduction in energy consumption have become the key to market access in the European Union and other countries.

Circular economy and resource utilization: The expansion of modified plastic production capacity will drive down mold costs, while realizing the large-scale application of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) molds and promoting the recycling of resources.

4. Intelligent and digital transformation

Popularization of digital production: The application rate of CAD/CAM/CAE technology exceeds 60%, AI-driven mold design software shortens the development cycle by 30%, and automated production lines improve efficiency.

Intelligent design and optimization: The mold flow analysis 4.0 system reduces the number of mold trials from the traditional 5-8 times to 1-2 times; the dynamic variable mold temperature technology reduces the surface shrinkage rate from 3% to below 0.5%; the gas-assisted molding optimization algorithm saves 15% of materials while improving structural strength. After adopting the digital twin technology, the development cycle of new products was shortened from 120 days to 45 days, and the defect rate was reduced from 800PPM to 50PPM.

Qingdao Xueyu Molding Products Co., Ltd. is mainly engaged in the design and manufacturing of injection molds, injection molding and secondary processing (spraying, pad printing, ultrasonic welding, stamping), etc. For more information about automobile injection mold, please contact us.

Website: www.xyzmould.com

Address: No.18 Henan Head Road, Henan Head Community, Jihongtan Street, Qingdao Industrial Park, Shandong Province, China

Email: wangmiaotian8@163.com