Casting cylinder heads in Curitiba lets Horse Powertrain secure supply for flex-fuel engines that South American automakers depend o
Horse Powertrain has opened a BRL200m (US$40m) casting facility at its Curitiba plant in Brazil, able to produce 210,000 aluminium cylinder heads a year. The heads go into the turbocharged 1.0-litre Horse H10 and 1.3-litre Horse H13 flex-fuel engines built at the site for South American passenger cars.
It is the company’s first use anywhere of gravity casting, in which molten aluminium flows into the mould under its own weight. Curitiba also uses low- and high-pressure injection casting, but gravity casting fills the mould more smoothly, leaving fewer air pockets and producing stronger, more durable heads.
A purpose-built system carries molten metal straight from furnace to mould, cutting wasted heat and metal and extending mould life. Horse Powertrain says this lowers embedded carbon dioxide emissions per head by 35% compared with injection casting, adding to the plant’s use of 98% recycled aluminium and its zero-landfill status.
The investment was announced in September 2024 alongside BRL100m (US$20m) to expand H13 engine output. Making cylinder heads in Curitiba keeps a key component close to the engine line and to regional automakers that rely on flex-fuel gasoline-ethanol engines. Chief Executive Matias Giannini said the facility shows how much the company values Brazil and South America, with production of key parts tailored to regional automakers’ needs.
Source: Horse Powertrain
