In line with constant enhancement of energy saving, lightweight and performance improving for automobile, the automakers continuously demand the auto parts industry to cut down cost and strengthen the performance so that domestic auto parts industry inevitably faces this challenge. Hydroforming products are equipped with advantages, including material saving, decrease of product assembly steps, lightweight, excellent stiffness and cost reduction. At current stage, the large automakers in Europe, America, Japan and Korea adopt hydroforming to make over 30 items of auto parts. Among which Benz and BMW use the hydroforming in the production of car body, chassis and exhaust manifold, American GM adopts this technology in the manufacturing of chassis and radiator enclosure, Toyota and Honda make the engine brackets and suspension support by hydroforming, while Hyundai and KIA develop the control arm and side crossmember in the adoption of hydroforming. Consequently hydroforming has gradually become one of main manufacturing streams. Additionally the application in the motorcycle, bicycle, sanitaryware & bathroom accessories and pipe fitting industries is continuously expanded to generate more and more business opportunities.
Inherited from American, Japanese and Korean systems, domestic automakers also ask the local auto parts manufacturers in the trial production of hydroforming parts in small batch. The auto parts manufacturers strongly sense if they cannot grasp this gradual forming business opportunity that will certainly flow to foreign auto parts manufacturers. Therefore few auto parts manufacturers and MIRDC jointly establish “R&D Alliance of Auto tube Hydroforming Parts”. In line with technical development trend of international tube hydroforming industry, the alliance relies on the existing experience and advantages of Taiwan automotive industry to invite the joint participation of industries from upper stream, mid stream and downstream in completing the vertical planning for labor of division with hope of creating the innovative R&D and application of “tube hydroforming technology”, forming a new industry cluster and dealing with the design retrofitting trend of next generation auto parts at an earlier date.
On the other hand, the emergence of hydroforming will not only replace part of traditional auto stamping parts, but also increase the value added of many metal pipe fitting products. MIRDC thus will proactively develop the hydroforming in the application of auto parts.