Toyota Motor Corp. and several other major Japanese automakers expanded their overseas factories' car production to record levels in 2003 to meet the strong demand in the US, Europe, and Asia.
Toyota Motor Corp. said that the company’s auto production at overseas plants has grown for the 12th consecutive year, reaching a record 2.65 million units in 2003. In terms of sales volume in 2003, Toyota Motor has replaced Ford Motor Co., becoming the second largest automaker in the world.
Honda Motor's overseas production in 2003 set a record for 2002, which has enabled the company's global car production to reach a record level. Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (7201.TO) also increased its production outside Japan's factories by 14.2% to the highest level of 1.49 million vehicles.
Since the 1990s, Japanese automakers have maintained a sustained and strong growth in overseas production.
The above data reflects that as Japanese automakers shift their production bases overseas to cut costs and enhance their ability to deal with fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Japanese yen, their competitiveness in the global automotive market is constantly increasing. These manufacturers try to compensate for the lack of future growth in the domestic market by expanding their overseas sales.
Toyota Motor also said that the company’s global production last year increased by 7.8% to 6.08 million vehicles. This figure does not include the production of its subsidiaries Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motors.
Honda Motors said that last year's global production reached a record 2.97 million vehicles, an increase of 2.4%. Nissan Motors followed closely. The company’s global auto production in 2003 increased by 9.8% to 2.96 million vehicles, indicating that the company is resurrected under the leadership of its president, Carlos Ghosn.
Toyota and Honda Motor both stated last month that as the company's market share in the United States, Europe and Asia continues to increase, the vehicle production in 2004 will further expand. Toyota Motor Corp. said that the company’s global car production in 2004 will increase to 6.51 million vehicles, while Honda Motors hopes to increase its global production to 3.17 million vehicles.
Among other major Japanese automakers, Mazda's global vehicle production in 2003 also increased by 10.4% to 1.04 million vehicles, of which overseas vehicle production surged by 42% to 240,821 units.
Mitsubishi Motors, however, said that the company’s global auto production fell 5.7 percent last year to 1.58 million vehicles, due to weak exports and the decline in North American production, the company’s domestic and overseas auto production fell. Mitsubishi Motors expects that the entire group will lose money in the fiscal year ending in March 2004 due to the downturn in business in the United States.
"Gravity Die Casting. A permanent mould casting process, where the molten metal is poured from a vessle of ladle into the mould, and cavity fills with no force other than gravity, in a similar manner to the production of sand castings, although filling cn be controlled by tilting the die."
Gravity Die Casting
Sometimes referred to as Permanent Mould, GDC is a repeatable casting process used for non-ferrous alloy parts, typically aluminium, Zinc and Copper Base alloys.
The process differs from HPDC in that Gravity- rather than high pressure- is used to fill the mould with the liquid alloy.
GDC is suited to medium to high volumes products and typically parts are of a heavier sections than HPDC, but thinner sections than sand casting.
There are three key stages in the process.
- The heated mould [Die or Tool] is coated with a die release agent. The release agent spray also has a secondary function in that it aids cooling of the mould face after the previous part has been removed from the die.
- Molten metal is poured into channels in the tool to allow the material to fill all the extremities of the mould cavity. The metal is either hand poured using steel ladles or dosed using mechanical methods. Typically, there is a mould [down sprue" that allows the alloy to enter the mould cavity from the lower part of the die, reducing the formation of turbulence and subsequent porosity and inclusions in the finished part.
- Once the part has cooled sufficiently, the die is opened, either manually or utilising mechanical methods.
Advantages
- Good dimensional accuracy
- Smoother cast surface finish than sand casting
- Improved mechanical properties compared to sand casting
- Thinner walls can be cast compared to sand casting
- Reverse draft internal pockets and forms can be cast in using preformed sand core inserts
- Steel pins and inserts can be cast in to the part
- Faster production times compared to other processes.
- Once the tolling is proven, the product quality is very repeatable.
- Outsourced Tooling setup costs can be lower than sand casting.
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