The past few years have been something akin to opening “Pandora’s box,” said Fiorani, the vice-president of global vehicle forecasting at U.S.-based AutoForecast Solutions.
The exact point at which die casting machines become “giga” is up for debate, Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz told Automotive News Canada, but with a clamping force of 6,100 tons, no one will be questioning whether the Canadian supplier’s three presses destined for Welland make the cut. Fiorani said the plant’s location puts it within striking distance of numerous Detroit Three plants in Canada, as well as Toyota and Honda. Shipping to assembly sites in the Detroit area is also feasible, he said, and if the parts are loaded onto ships, that would open further opportunities with the Detroit Three and several startups in Ohio.
“We have a lot of other opportunities in the pipeline. We’re pretty confident in our ability to fill this facility in short-order,” Hasenfratz said.“It comes back to the growth of electrified vehicles, the need for lightweighting and just the realization of the amount of weight savings that you get from stamped steel assemblies [versus] this type of a structural lightweight metal part.”