3D Printing at Bugatti, Aston, McLaren, Ferrari & Lamborghini: Treacle Down Economics - 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

Concept cars have utilized 3D printing for decades. These unique vehicles are ideal for additive manufacturing—designed as one-offs with intricate, timely, and specific geometries. Within automotive companies, 3D printing departments have been producing parts for over three decades, with many OEMs counting car manufacturers among their earliest clients. Form-and-fit prototypes and design studies have similarly been employed across car firms for years.

The first actual 3D-printed car parts appeared on one-off automobiles. For example, a car enthusiast might go to Pininfarina or Ferrari to commission a one-off dream car, featuring unique parts and an open budget—perfect conditions for 3D printing. This led to rumors about hypercars incorporating 3D-printed parts. It’s widely speculated that the Bugatti Veyron dashboard was 3D-printed in a custom shape to fit each car. Since each Veyron was hand-assembled, dimensions could vary, making standardized dashboards impractical. Allegedly, Bugatti would scan each car and print a dashboard to fit, though this was never officially confirmed.

Other unique cases include “bridge manufacturing,” where Lamborghini reportedly used 3D printing to produce polymer lamp windscreen wipers, enabling the Gallardo to launch on schedule.

In racing, the use of 3D printing expanded rapidly from wind tunnel models to holders, engine components, steering wheel elements, chassis parts, and exhausts. However, the car companies faced lower costs per kilogram, so weight reductions weren’t as critical to them. Many were also skeptical of 3D printing, as it didn’t seem impactful enough to justify the effort. As a result, 3D printing was primarily used in edge cases and extremely low-volume cars. Some customization made sense in mass-produced vehicles—such as the unique Volkswagen Golf—and companies did begin to use it selectively. Beyond this, it was brands like BMW Individual, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, Bentley Mulliner, and Mercedes MANUFAKTUR that leveraged 3D printing. In these high-margin sectors, where customers pay more for unique colors, custom parts, and even one-off models, 3D printing proved viable.

Recently, however, we’re seeing a shift. Over the past few months, Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren, and now Lamborghini have introduced 3D-printed parts in series production cars. Ferrari plans to include structural parts in the F80, while Lamborghini is poised to use 3D-printed engine components—possibly cylinder heads—on the new Huracan replacement, codenamed the 634. Meanwhile, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Bugatti are exploring the use of Divergent’s 3D printing technologies. Suddenly, nearly all major sports car manufacturers are adopting 3D printing.

This raises the question: will this adoption persist? I’ve previously argued that 3D printing can unlock new profitability for car manufacturers. Are we now on the verge of a broader integration of 3D-printed parts across more automobiles? And why is this happening now?

We reached out to a few experts in car 3D printing to get their insights. Dilsher Dhillon, the North America Metal Additive Manufacturing Lead for GKN Powder Metallurgy, was the inspiration for this article; he initially pointed out the remarkable lines on the Lamborghini engine. Dhillon has been working for years to industrialize car parts through 3D printing.

I asked him what car companies need to manufacture with 3D printing. He explained, “It’s all about producing finished components at scale with a quality-controlled process. The first stage was enabling design for AM; the second is controlling the process to produce precision components at scale. This is the core expertise of large-scale contract manufacturers, which differs from the service bureau market where prototypes and proof-of-concept samples are common. You’ll need a metallurgical lab, dedicated fixtures and testing, safety capacity, post-processing, and statistical process control. At GKN, we support this with customer-specific statements of work, for example. These controls are essential to breaking into production for functional applications. Most companies build know-how and manufacture internally, either by investing or acquiring application-focused companies. However, when scaling and to hedge risk, key supply chain partners are crucial.”

Jochen Loock, now at DB Schenker and formerly with Fraunhofer IAPT—where he played a pivotal role in getting 3D-printed end-use parts onto cars early on—shared his thoughts on why this shift is happening now and which types of parts are ideal for 3D printing.

¨I believe the Italian automotive market truly awakened 3-5 years ago, inspired by the success stories of first movers in Germany and the U.S. Carmakers. Lamborghini and Ferrari, as classic early adopters, began to recognize the potential of high-end, small-series production in the 3 to 4-digit range to reduce tooling costs. However, it took time to navigate the complexities of additive manufacturing—convincing stakeholders, designing profitable parts, and creating specifications to get parts approved. Now, more small, workshop-like Italian carmakers are likely to follow this path. But widespread adoption will only happen if there are ready-to-use applications, as these companies’ customers tend to be traditional buyers seeking ready to use parts,” Loock explained. ¨In the high-end automotive sector, 3D printing is particularly suited for small to mid-sized components like weight critical suspension parts.The focus will likely be on aluminum components, where the technology can significantly reduce tooling costs compared to traditional methods like forging or aluminum die casting and machining of lightweight structures too complicated.¨

We also reached out to Andrew Cunningham, formerly with GM and now at Nikon SLM Solutions, where he focuses on helping carmakers adopt 3D printing. We asked him about the value these firms are gaining from additive manufacturing.

¨By harnessing additive manufacturing for safety-critical components, supercar manufacturers prove to the world they are at the forefront of technical innovation.Supercar manufacturers are unleashing the power of additive manufacturing to transform ultra-high-performance designs into large-scale realities, propelled by leaps in system productivity, increasingly sophisticated design tools, and a growing organizational command of the technology,” Cunningham shared.

As for whether or not he expected more 3D printed car parts to be made in the future, Cunningham said:

¨These groundbreaking projects will significantly boost the adoption of additive manufacturing parts in the automotive industry, showcasing the technology´s readiness not only to the public but also to key internal decision-makers. While calculations and bench tests are vital for vehicle validation, nothing validates the technology´s capability to company decision-makers quite like setting Nürburgring lap times or surpassing speeds of 320 kmh with these components in mission-critical applications. The performance automotive industry will aggressively expand its use of 3D-printed components, propelled by significant advances in system productivity, innovative high-performance materials that are generating robust economies of scale, and a rising number of highly capable OEMs and suppliers.

I believe this marks a significant step forward for our industry. What I appreciate most is that we’re not claiming we’ll be 3D-printing all cars all the time. All the experts agree this is a gradual evolution, with growing capability and organizational willingness over time. There are no overnight success stories here—many clipboards and tensile bars were sacrificed along the way. Perhaps the pace of adoption in automotive will be slow, but as long as it proves useful, safe, and practical for these companies, our industry should feel both proud and encouraged by this progress. While it may take longer than initially anticipated, this slow and steady advancement seems, for the first time, practically irreversible.