Maxion Wheels has integrated solar power into its light vehicle aluminium wheels facility in Chihuahua, Mexico, following the launch of its own 499 kW capacity photovoltaic system that can deliver an estimated annual generation of 960 MWh. By reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 420 tonnes per year, equivalent to the annual growth of 6,930 trees, the solar farm will supply around two per cent of the plant’s annual energy needs.
In the USA, Accuride Corporation and “certain of its U.S. and Canadian affiliates” has filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition and commenced proceedings in Canada under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. Restructuring is expected to be completed in 90-100 days. “All plants continue to operate”, according to the wheelmaker. Accuride’s Mexican, European, and Asian subsidiaries are not included in the filings.
Maxion Wheels, purportedly the world’s largest wheel manufacturer, introduced a line of “lightweight, corrosion-resistant forged aluminium” truck wheels at IAA Transportation 2024.
Howmet Aerospace’s Forged Wheels business, which markets products under the Alcoa brand, has reported revenue of US $278 million during the second quarter of 2024. This represents a decrease of 7% year-on-year and is attributed to volumes shrinking by 4% within the commercial transportation market as well as a decrease in aluminium and other inflationary cost pass through. Segment Adjusted EBITDA was $75 million, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 7%. Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased approximately 20 basis points year over year, to 27.0%.
BBS Autotechnik GmbH may be the proud new owner of the Superior Industries plant in Werdohl, Germany, but the company is grappling with issues of its own. After been unable to market its wheels or generate revenue for many months due to a trademark dispute, it appears that the 240 employees at the BBS plant in Schiltach, also in Germany, have not received their wages for May and June. Local media sources report that the plant’s works council has issued an ultimatum to the management team and the new owner to pay the outstanding wages by tomorrow. Failure to do so may prompt another insolvency filing.
The Superior Industries wheel plant in Werdohl, Germany, now has a new investor, but the timeline for resuming alloy rim production remains uncertain. At the same time, the new owner faces other challenges that need resolution.
Until recently, half a dozen companies in China produced counterfeit Yokohama Advan Racing alloy wheels, but their days of fakery are over thanks to the joint efforts of intellectual property rights holder Yokohama Rubber and the authorities in three cities. Yokohama Rubber speaks of a “successful completion of its efforts to eliminate counterfeit versions of the company’s aluminium wheels in China.”
The UK government has accepted a Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) recommendation to vary anti-dumping duties on aluminium road wheels (alloy wheels) from China. In its analysis, the TRA determined that “while the imports of one-piece cast alloy wheels are not damaging the UK’s alloy wheel manufacturing industry, imports of forged one-piece and multi-piece alloy wheels and parts of alloy wheels could cause damage”. The TRA therefore recommended in February to split the measure into two categories – firstly to keep the tariffs on the category of forged one-piece and multi-piece alloy wheels and parts of alloy wheels for five years; and secondly, to remove tariffs on the category of one-piece cast alloy wheels from China.
The self-administration order in place during insolvency proceedings for Superior Industries Production Germany GmbH, represented by managing directors Sven Damm and Maximilian Funk, has been cancelled. Insolvency proceedings for the wheel manufacturer opened on 1 December.
On Tuesday, Alcoa Wheels Europe broke ground on a plant expansion in Hungary that will meet growing demand for Alcoa Dura-Bright wheels. The start of work at the Howmet-Köfém LLC site follows the recent celebration of Alcoa’s 75th anniversary.
As reported yesterday, a wholly owned subsidiary of Superior Industries International has commenced insolvency proceedings in Germany. The outcome of this process will decide the fate of the company’s Werdohl aluminium wheel manufacturing facility, and Superior will make its decision within a matter of months.
The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. says it has eliminated “counterfeit versions of the company’s aluminum wheels in China”. Yokohama Rubber filed an administrative complaint and submitted information to the Administration for Market Regulation in Foshan, Guangdong Province, regarding five companies engaged in the distribution of counterfeit sports car aluminium wheels imitating Yokohama’s “ADVAN Racing” wheels. The distributors were selling the counterfeit wheels via internet shopping sites and retail shops outside of the company’s official distribution channels.
The European importer of Indian manufactured xlite and xbrite aluminium forged commercial vehicle wheels, The Truck Hub Group has been placed into creditors’ voluntary liquidation following unsuccessful attempts to sell the business at the end of 2022. The company traded as The Wheel Hub, based in Sharston in south Manchester, having changed its name from MWheels in early 2021. This was one of a number of transformational changes for the company in recent years, with the establishment of a European operation, Wheel Hub GmbH in the Cologne region of Germany, which is “unaffected” by the liquidation proceedings. Further details of the company’s stock liquidation sale can be found here.
On 19 January, the European Commission extended anti-dumping duties on aluminium road wheels from China for a further five years. The extension follows an expiry review investigation, which showed that these wheels continue to be dumped on the EU market and that industry within the European Union would suffer significant harm if the measures were allowed to lapse.
The Borbet wheel factory in Solingen, Germany will close on 31 December 2022. The wheel manufacturer told its workforce on Monday 28 November at a works meeting. Around 600 employees are affected. All previous attempts to find an economically viable future for the location had failed. A transfer company will be set up.
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