Feintool, a global manufacturer of electrical steel laminations for EV motors, reports it has won a large order for e-motor cores in China where growth is robust but the company is making cutbacks in Europe due to declines there where EV production has outpaced sales. Activity remains strong in Japan and North America, it says.
Meanwhile, in recent technology development, the company has refined its “glulock” adhesive system with glulock® MD (Multiple Dots) for rotor and stator production that enables more compact designs to increase the efficiency and performance of electric motors.
In April the company reported the order in China with an estimated lifetime volume of CHF 30 million. The laminated components will be installed in commercial vehicles produced by a leading Chinese automotive manufacturer. The high-performance stators and rotors will power pickup trucks, vans and light trucks. While the Chinese passenger car fleet is increasingly electrified, the transformation of the commercial vehicle sector has just gained momentum, driven by the Chinese logistics industry.
Start of production is planned for the second half of 2025. The cores will be integrated into the customer’s newly developed e-drive platform. Laminated cores for EV motors, including both the stator and rotor, are typically made from electrical steel, often referred to as silicon steel, which is a special type of steel with high magnetic permeability and low hysteresis losses.
While Chinese passenger vehicles are increasingly electrified, most commercial vehicles still run on fossil fuels. They account for 12% of the total vehicle fleet but produce more than 55% of its carbon emissions. The adoption of renewable energies in commercial vehicles therefore plays a significant role in minimizing the CO2 footprint. “The growing maturity of e-powered commercial vehicles and the associated lower production costs are leading to a substantial increase in demand. This applies to battery electric power trains including hybrid and hydrogen drive systems,” added Xiangjun Bao, Managing Director Feintool China.
Difficult market & cutback in Europe
In a recap of 2024 activity, Feintool said its business developed differently from region to region and was characterized by a significant decline in demand in the European automotive and industrial sectors. Overall sales for the group dropped to CHF 720 million, down 15% from the previous year. Positive developments in North America and Asia only partially compensated for the economic and structural weakness in Europe, leaving to an operating loss of CHF 49 million there and a loss of 2.2 million for the year for the full group.
In Europe, Feintool’s largest market, business with components for combustion and hybrid drives saw a slight decline. At the same time, demand for laminated electrical components used in electric vehicles suffered a sharp decrease. Demand for industrial applications also remained at a very low level.
The electrification of mobility slowed down due to uncertain political conditions, particularly in Germany. This resulted in overcapacity at individual manufacturers, leading to postponements and cancellations of orders.
As a result the fineblanking/forming and electrolamination stamping business units in Europe are being realigned with some plant closures. High-volume production is being relocated from Lyss in Switzerland to the company’s plant in Most, Czech Republic. Production from its plant in Sachsenheim, Germany is being shifted to Tokod, Hungary.
Record sales in North America & strong position in Asia
All signs continue to point to growth in the USA. In 2024, Feintool won new orders in its traditional business for combustion and hybrid drives as well as additional market share. The expansion of its Nashville site is largely completed, creating additional production capacity. Sales in North America hit a record of CHF 194.3 million for the year.
The center of global automotive production is increasingly shifting to Asia, says Feintool, particularly with rapid progress of electromobility in China. New opportunities for its solutions in fuel cell and hydrogen technology are also opening up in China where the use of hydrogen technology is established. Feintool positioned itself in this sector years ago and continued to be successful in 2024. The company again won a major series order from a leading Chinese manufacturer of fuel cells.
Global market trends continue
Even if the European component business for e-drives failed to satisfy the entire supplier sector in 2024, the global trend towards electromobility continues, says the company. However, progress – especially in Europe – is slower than expected while growth rates remain positive. Growth is anticipated worldwide in industrial applications as well as for wind turbines, fuel cells and batteries. The hydrogen technology market, which Feintool supplies with bipolar plates and interconnects, is expected to grow by over 70 % annually until 2030.
In a recent presentation in Feintool’s Horizons Customer Magazine 2025, the latest advancement to its patented “glulock” process for rotor and stator bonding is explained by Markus Lock, head of R&D and engineering. The article is highlighted here and fully available with more detail at the company’s website.
When it comes to precision, glulock is setting new standards, says Lock. “We achieve significant improvements in E-lamination stack tolerances in terms of parallelism, shape accuracy, concentricity and length tolerance. These improvements are the result of years of experience with adhesive packaging. The first glulock series tool for an industrial motor was developed back in 2008. Since then, the technology has been geared towards the requirements of the automotive industry. The glulock High Temperature (HT) process, launched in 2014, has quickly established itself in the industry. It can withstand temperatures of up to 180°C/356°F and is particularly suitable for high-speed motors.”
“The latest development in the glulock process is glulock MD (Multiple Dots), and it is going to shape the next generation of electric motors. The innovative feature? Adhesive dots are no longer only applied to the yoke, but also to the teeth of the laminations. This achieves almost full-surface bonding, which makes the stacks even stronger. A US car manufacturer is already using the technology, launched in 2022, in series production. Feintool will produce a total of over 800,000 rotor-stator sets by 2026. “The first automotive series order underlines the outstanding performance and potential of glulock MD.”
For more info, see www.feintool.com.
