CASTING CONVERSION


F


isker Automotive Inc., Anaheim, Calif., knew a die casting was in its future when it embarked on a journey to create


a luxury hybrid sports car. What was unknown: who would the diecaster be? T e complexity of the main


transmission housing, in addition to its low volume production, brought in its share of “no-quotes” for the project but caught the interest of Mercury


24 | MODERN CASTING February 2013


Marine, Fond du Lac, Wis. “It was such a diffi cult, thick-


walled, high pressure die casting, and that’s what sparked our interest,” said Todd Olson, account manager with Mercury Marine. “We heard it was no-quoted and our ears perked up.” From there, Mercury Marine


embarked on a journey of its own: converting a sand casting compo- nent to a die casting and working through design plans to make the


transmission housing for Fisker’s Karma a reality.


Finding Mercury Marine “We came into play before they


even had their fi rst production part,” Olson said. “T ey were working on [sand casting] product design and validation, but they knew they wanted to eventually go diecast.” With little luck fi nding a supplier for the transmission part initially,


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