For the problems of difficult processing, low output, waste of materials and poor service performance of a complex automotive gear shaft, the cold heading processing process was adopted. Firstly, based on the structural characteristics of gear shaft, the forming method, the number of forming stations and the shape of parts at each station were preliminarily determined, and then, the finite element modeling and forming process simulation of each station for the proposed process were carried out by Deform-3D software. At the same time, in order to provide effective prediction and verification, the deformation behavior of the production material at room temperature was studied by compression tests, and corresponding rheological stress model was built in Deform-3D. The simulation results show that the forming results of parts at each station meet the requirements, with complete appearance and shape integrity. At the same time, the metal deformation during forming is reasonable, the streamline condition is good, and the material damage is also within the safe range without folding, cracking and other problems. Finally, a seven-station cold heading test of gear shaft is conducted according to the established process, and all products obtained have good quality, which is highly consistent with the simulation results indicating that the new process is feasible and reliable, and the actual production problems of gear shaft are effectively solved.