Abstract: In order to improve the forming quality and dimensional accuracy of automobile hollow gear shaft, improve the production efficiency and control the cost, the closed forging process was proposed to form the gear shaft, and the forging process was simulated and calculated by the finite element analysis method. Then, through the material flow analysis, the suitable forging die structure scheme was selected, namely, the four-punch structure scheme, and on this basis, the movement mode of each punch was studied. Furthermore, taking the load on each mold, the surface temperature and the quality of formed parts as the analysis objects, the process scheme was optimized. The results show that when the movement mode of punch is scheme B, it can effectively reduce the probability of cracks on the hollow gear shaft and improve the forming quality. At the same time, the required minimum mold clamping force is the smallest, and the temperature rise on the mold surface is the least obvious, which is beneficial to improve the life of mold. Finally, the trial production of hollow gear shaft forgings is completed, the obtained forgings are filled completely,the quality of helical teeth is good, and the structure and sizes meet the requirements of  design.