Luca Greco: Chronicler of the Gigacasting World

Since 2023, Greco has been continuously tracking what is happening in the market: machine orders, OEM strategies, Chinese investment, magnesium applications and new fields of use beyond the automotive industry. His readers can follow these developments through his newsletter and his database.

What drives someone to build such a specialised view of a fast-moving niche? What fascinates him about gigacasting? And how does a young researcher from outside the traditional industry structures become a recognised observer of one of the most debated technologies in die casting?

From curiosity to industry observer

Luca Greco first became aware of gigacasting in 2020, when Tesla was developing the technology and the first 6,000-ton machines were being installed in Fremont. At the time, he followed discussions on Twitter and YouTube and watched drone footage filmed over the factory. “I was fascinated from the start,” he says.

For Greco, the fascination was not limited to the sheer size of the machines. Gigacasting represented a shift in how automotive structures could be designed, produced and industrialised. The idea of consolidating many components into large castings, reducing assembly complexity and pushing the die casting process to new limits became a field he wanted to understand in depth. 

A little over a year later, he started publishing regular news about gigacasting. One of his observations was that Chinese OEMs were investing increasingly in the technology, while these developments were barely being picked up in the West. His first readers came through social media. After one of his posts was shared by a high-reach YouTuber, Greco reached his first 1,000 followers.

A newsletter beyond the algorithm

This eventually led to The Gigacasting Newsletter. Luca Greco wanted to create a format that was less dependent on social-media algorithms and less driven by exaggeration. In his view, social platforms often reward overstatement, while technical and pragmatic analysis needs more space. The newsletter was intended as a place to track what is actually happening: in plain language, supported by numbers and with a clear distinction between claims and facts.

Over time, the scope expanded. Gigacasting remained the starting point, but Greco also began to look at adjacent technologies and markets: the resurgence of magnesium in China, thixomolding and applications beyond the automotive sector.

Between research, market analysis and practice

Greco’s own path does not fit into classic categories. He openly says that, by industry standards, he still has little experience. Yet this is part of what makes his perspective distinctive. He did not first build an industrial career and then start the newsletter. It happened the other way around: “My professional background didn't lead to the newsletter, the newsletter led to my professional background.”

Today, Greco combines research, communication, market analysis and practical experience. For him, gigacasting is a question of process ambition: the more properties a component receives directly through the casting process and the less post-processing is required, the stronger the industrial benefit becomes.

For European foundries, this perspective is relevant because it points beyond gigacasting itself: to lightweight structural casting, magnesium, rheocasting, thixomolding and new customer industries.

Interview: “The very largest machines are discussed more than they are deployed.”

Luca, how do you research new machine installations, vehicle platforms or OEM strategies?

Luca Greco: It's a mix of open-source work and conversations. A large share of the signal comes from Chinese sources, because that's where much of the activity is, and from a network of contacts across the supply chain. The people are exactly what makes the information useful. Of course, an OEM or supplier announcing a giga-machine is not the same as a cell producing parts in series, and a lot of my work is simply enforcing that distinction so readers don't get misled by press releases. 

Who reads your newsletter: foundries, OEMs, machine manufacturers, investors, consultancies or other target groups?

Luca Greco: The core readership is exactly who you'd expect along the die casting chain: foundries, OEMs, machine manufacturers, investors and consultancies. But it has broadened in an interesting direction. Increasingly I'm read by companies interested in die casting beyond automotive, and especially in magnesium and thixomolding. That includes humanoid robot, drone and low altitude economy startups, new defense players and the lightweight mobility who are looking at lightweight structural casting for their own products. That cross-industry mix tells you a lot about where the technology is heading. The audience is no longer just automotive OEMs and their suppliers.

Where do you currently see more hype than substance in the field of gigacasting?

Luca Greco: The biggest one is the gap between announced projects and machines actually running, especially in China. The machine-size arms race also got ahead of itself. Right now there seems to be a shared understanding that, for the vast majority of automotive applications, there's simply no need for machines larger than 9000 tons and that the sweet spot is keeping clamping forces in the 5000 to 7000 ton range. The very largest machines are discussed far more than they are deployed. Above a certain size they belong almost exclusively to battery trays, and even there they still have to prove themselves as cost-effective solutions.

What should European foundries be watching most closely right now?

Luca Greco: Two things at once. First, the consolidation of many small components into a single casting by automotive OEMs – not only in gigacasting, but as a general rule. The foundries most at risk are those heavily dependent on automotive that can't compete above the 1,500-to-2,000-ton machine range.

Second, and more optimistically, the new opportunities opening up. Humanoid robots, drones, the low-altitude economy, lightweight mobility and defense are all generating demand for exactly the kind of lightweight parts the European foundry base is well placed to make. My advice is to diversify both the customer base and the technology to look beyond aluminum HPDC into magnesium, rheocasting and thixomolding.

And there's one more thing I'd add, demographics are deeply concerning. Too many people in die casting will retire over the next decade, and we urgently need to open the industry up to young talent and make a career in die casting attractive to them, in universities, technical schools and high schools.

Thank you for the interview!