The piston engine is an essential component in automobiles. Since the piston is used in a high temperature and high pressure environment, the piston needs to be manufactured to achieve high strength and high durability. In addition, cost reduction is also an important consideration. In conventional forging, an additional heat treatment after hot forging is necessary to ensure proper mechanical properties for heavy-duty engine pistons. The newly developed manufacturing method lowers production costs by saving manufacturing time and reduces energy consumption. The current paper describes the hot forging of an engine piston made from 38MnSiVS5 micro-alloyed steel using controlled cooling. The finite element analysis was used to check for possible problems and suitable press capacity. Hot forging experiments were then conducted on a 2500tons crank press to evaluate feasibility of the proposed material and process. To check the mechanical properties after hot forging, the forged specimens were tensile tested, and the microstructures were examined in order to compare the results with the conventionally forged material. The skirt region of the as-forged 38MnSiVS5 piston showed better material properties compared to the conventional material. In addition, the total production time was reduced by about 80% as compared to conventional forging.