At the Geneva Motor Show, the German manufacturers wanted to score points with "numerous world premieres", the VDA association announced. Yet the mood is subdued: Risks such as a hard Brexit, an economic downturn and trade disputes are hanging over the industry, while car production in Germany is set to fall.

There are often limits in the automotive aftermarket. There are boundaries between old and modern technology. But hardly any other modern technology is as predestined for use in the restoration of historical cultural assets as 3D printing.

In cooperation with the Faserinstitut Bremen, Fraunhofer IFAM has developed a new joining technology for the combination of aluminum casting and CFRP that is suitable for series production.

It's the biggest order in the company's history: In the coming years, ZF Friedrichshafen will supply eight-speed automatic transmissions to BMW. The contract has a volume in the tens of billions. The supplier also presented its business figures recently.

Volkswagen is converting its plant in Zwickau/Mosel: It is to be the Group’s first plant to exclusively manufacture electric vehicles in large numbers - a strong signal for e-mobility. In an interview, Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management for E-Mobility at Volkswagen and Managing Director of Volkswagen Saxony, talks about the underlying motives.

Zinc die casting has consistently developed over the past decades and proven its potential. For thin-walled, lightweight, small and filigree objects as well as for large parts, the demands on speed, efficiency, stability, haptics and appearance are increasing - and the material and energy consumption is constantly decreasing.

The industry supplier pressmetall Gunzenhausen GmbH in cooperation with the University of Ansbach introduced a new IT solution for a digital production image. Its customized dashboards significantly improve production planning and control. The solution lays the foundation for further digitization measures.

The VDMA has lowered its production forecast from 2 % to 1 %. The uncertainty on the world markets is making itself felt, says the association. This is mainly influenced by digitalization. Have buzzwords such as machine learning and industrial intelligence now arrived in reality?

The casting industry is in a transitional period adjusting to new trends and products. Manufacturers require flexibility in their equipment to account for shorter program life cycles while still being able to be competitive. In many instances this requires assets to be spread across multiple programs.

In plaster casting 2.0, Formkon has combined the conventional casting process with 3D printing and can deliver aluminum and magnesium prototypes in one to two weeks.