Hayes Lemmerz Ventures to Turkey

Hayes Lemmerz International has formed an aluminum wheel joint venture in Manisa, Turkey. The new company, Jantas Aliminyum Jant Sanayi ve Ticaret AS (Jantas Aluminum Wheels), will predominantly serve the Turkish market, but will also deal with other European markets. Production is scheduled to begin at the end of 2005 and it is estimated that it will produce up to 1.5 million wheels annually.

Three companies are involved in the business venture; 40 per cent will be owned by Hayes Lemmerz, 35 per cent by Cromodora Wheels and 25 per cent by Inci Holding A.S. Financial. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
“It is important to team with the right partners. Our business ventures with Inci date back to 1992,” said Fred Bentley, president of Hayes Lemmerz’ International Wheel Group. “This joint venture will benefit from the technical know how of both Hayes Lemmerz and Cromodora to establish a manufacturing process based on the most advanced techniques.”

“This joint venture will strategically expand our capabilities beyond Hayes Lemmerz’ existing wheel operations in Turkey. Geographic expansion is critical to Hayes Lemmerz because it enables us to support our customers as they grow in the developing markets of the world. As part of this strategy, in 2004 we will complete aluminum wheel plant expansions in Thailand, Brazil and the Czech Republic,” continued Mr Bentley.

Hayes Lemmerz has an existing 44 plants and approximately 11,000 employees worldwide.

Cromodora Wheels is based in Italy, and is a supplier of “specialty” and “premium” aluminum wheels to the OEM market.

Turkish company Inci Holding operates in automotive, logistics, insurance, construction, and white goods sectors. The group has 17 companies and joint ventures, and employs 1500 people.