Gestamp, the Spanish multinational Tier 1 supplier which specialises in the design, development and manufacturing of components for the automotive sector, announced its fourth hot stamping line in India at the 16th Auto Expo 2023-Components trade fair at Pragai Maidan, New Delhi. The company has two lines in Pune and one in Chennai.

Gestamp is showcasing its array of products and innovations such as extreme size parts, battery boxes, cell-to-pack concepts, joining technologies, chassis-innovative lightweight solutions or active frunks.

Glyn Jones, Country Manager and President of Gestamp India, said: “With three plants in the country and one R&D centre, the company has put the focus on the growing awareness of the need to have safety standards that match the standards of Global NCAP. Of all the elements of safety of the car, the most important is the car body structure due to the protection that it provides to passengers when a collision takes place. Hot stamping, a technology where Gestamp is the world's biggest player, has been key in this process and as the driving force behind Gestamp India´s growth.”

The trends and changes in the mobility of tomorrow-present automotive manufacturers and their suppliers with a variety of new opportunities. The greatly increased weight of EVs due to the integration of battery boxes and the resulting changes in vehicle structure and dynamics are a few examples that Gestamp has to take into account when developing its products and technologies. 

"We are here in India to support you. We are bringing all of our global technologies and solutions to India which are required to transition from ICE to EVs. We are giving a value solution to our clients, where we can meet the weight technology requirements. We are still competitive on cost or else we wouldn't be growing and expanding. Yes, there is a bit of a dent in the cost. There will always be a dent with new technologies. But that technology advantage ultimately for our clients is giving them a cost advantage, be it in volume sales, creating cross performance and co2 emissions. So, at the end of the day, it's a win-win for both the clients and us”, he further added. 

Furthermore, aspects such as safety, lightweight construction and a reduction in CO2 emissions continue to play a decisive role. Against this background, the R&D teams will be presenting core innovations and technologies from Gestamp's three business units at the Auto Expo 2023-Components: BiW, Chassis and Mechanics (Edscha).

Latest in BiW technologies
In the BiW area, Gestamp is displaying some innovations and technologies from its ICE/EV portfolio. It is also working on the development of safer and lighter battery electric vehicle (BEV) solutions and is showcasing a multi-material battery box made of aluminium and FRP along with steel and aluminium battery box parts. These materials represent a solution for small electric vehicles and point the way to the future of mobility.

In combination with the innovative battery concepts, Extreme Size Parts fit seamlessly into the current BiW concepts in India, allowing Gestamp to offer customers less complex and more efficient solutions. Extreme Size parts are a new generation of body parts that integrate multiple functions as one-piece solutions in Giga-Stamping.

Gestamp will is also exhibiting Engineered Products and related technologies such as Multistep, laser technology, as well as an insight into its aluminium competencies.

Sachin Bhoutkar, Director R&D BIW India, said: “This new product family offers a unique combination of increased crash and safety, light weight, lower costs and CO2 reduction in a single product. This hot stamped steel solution with different material properties and thickness combinations helps our OEMs to achieve offer a significant reduction in assembly time. Extreme size parts represent an optimal solution for the design of new electric vehicles and make it possible to largely cope with crash and safety in the vehicle body and also help to reduce complexity of the battery box.”

Chassis
In order to meet the current requirements in terms of performance, CO2 reduction and minimal weight while at the same time being extremely robust, Gestamp Chassis follows an integrated approach to design and manufacturing, which is underpinned by a constant pursuit of continuous improvement and design optimization. To support this approach, Gestamp uses in-house material curves for steel, aluminum and hybrid materials in virtual simulations for strength, durability and fatigue life.

The introduction of so-called ‘HighPerTubes’ (high-performance-tubes) in the development of the rear axle subframe has resulted in an improvement, especially in EVs, by increasing crash performance while reducing weight at the same time.

Ralf Koorman Head of the Chassis Engineering Department in Bielefeld, Germany, said: “Safety is key for Gestamp, especially the complex chassis components in the front and rear axles of a vehicle are subjected to high loads and forces while at the same time playing an important role in the safety of the vehicle. Located in the lower part of the vehicle, chassis is an imported component and contributes to the full vehicle crash performance. That is why it is so important to develop different ideas and solutions for modern and future-oriented components that meet current and future e-mobility requirements in the chassis.”

Edscha displays Active Frunk
Edscha, Gestamp’s third business unit in India, is debuting at the Auto Expo. In May 2022, Edscha signed a JV agreement with Aditya Auto Products & Engineering with location in Chakan. The cooperation extends to development, manufacture and distribution of hinge systems, door checks, latches and parking brakes.

“With innovations such as the Active Frunk,” Edscha Sales Director VW-Group Jorg Paulus said: ”We offer a state-of-the-art solution specially tailored to electric vehicles. Where there is still a combustion engine in most vehicles today, space is freed up in the EV that can be used as an additional luggage compartment, for example.” The Active Frunk combines an actuator for automatic opening and closing of the front lid with a hinge for active pedestrian protection.

In the area of sliding doors, Edscha develops customised solutions for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. In addition to the lower, middle and upper roller, the focusing on the rails developing, among other things, a multi-part rail in which both aluminum and plastic components can be used. The advantages of this new concept are obvious: less weight, lower costs, lower tolerances and faster processes.

Since its inception in 2006, Gestamp India has followed a strategy (as it is globally) to be substantially close to its clients, co-developing solutions in close proximity to the OEMs. Gestamp is able, due to its R&D capabilities, to co-develop projects jointly with Indian customers and help them on the road to electrification.