Recently, magnesium alloys have been widely used in the automotive, aerospace and electronics industries with the advantages of high specific strength, excellent machinability, high electrical conductivity, and high thermal conductivity. Deep drawn magnesium alloys not only meet the demands environmentally and the need for lighter products, but also can lead to remarkably improved productivity and more rapid qualification of the product The current study reports on a failure prediction procedure using finite element modeling (FEM) and a ductile fracture criterion and applies this procedure to the design of a deep drawing process. Critical damage values were determined from a series of uniaxial tensile tests and FEM simulations. They were then expressed as a function of strain rate and temperature. Based on the plastic deformation histories obtained from the FEM analyses of the warm drawing process and the critical damage value curves, the initiation time and location of fracture were predicted. The proposed method was applied to the process design for fabrication of a Mg automotive compressor case and verified with experimental results. The final results indicate that a Mg case part 39% lighter than an Al die casting part can be produced without any defects.