Kimura Group opens advanced aluminum casting plant for next-gen vehicle development

The facility, which began operations in February 2026, is designed to meet growing demand for lightweight structural components as vehicle electrification accelerates.

The new plant combines low-pressure sand casting (LPSC), V-Process vacuum molding, and Kimura's proprietary heat-treatment technology to produce aluminum castings with material properties comparable to production die-cast components while retaining the speed and flexibility of sand casting. This enables automakers and suppliers to validate component designs before investing in production tooling, helping reduce development time, cost, and engineering risk.

The facility is capable of manufacturing large, thin-wall structural aluminum castings—often referred to as gigacastings—with wall thicknesses as low as 2 mm, making it well suited for next-generation EV platforms where lightweighting and structural integration are increasingly important. Equipment at the site includes 200 kg and 400 kg low-pressure casting machines, a large T6 heat-treatment furnace, and advanced sand mold production systems.

Kimura is also expanding the facility with a dedicated small-lot production line using conventional patterns, allowing customers to transition more efficiently from prototype development to limited-volume manufacturing. The company said the investment reflects increasing demand for prototype components that closely replicate production performance while supporting faster product development cycles.

As automakers continue to adopt large aluminum structural castings for EV platforms, investments in advanced prototype manufacturing are expected to play an increasingly important role in accelerating vehicle development while improving design validation and production readiness.