Wheel manufacturer Uniwheels AG has approved the allotment of 4,800,000 shares in a public offering, including 2,400,000 new shares from a share capital increase and 2,400,000 existing shares from the holding of existing shareholder Uniwheels Holding (Malta) Ltd. . Five per cent, or 240,000 of the shares offered have been allocated to retail investors and 4,560,000 (95 per cent) to institutional investors.
Uniwheels AG says it is proceeding with plans for a public offering and it will apply for listing and trading of the company’s shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Plans are to conduct the offering in the second quarter of 2015, however the wheel manufacturer comments that the exact date will depend on market conditions.
Uniwheel brand Anzio has released a new alloy wheel called Spark as part of its new spring season range. For the first time since the creation of the brand in 2006, Anzio offers its customers a wheel design with ECE certification for numerous applications, the company reported in a statement.
German alloy wheel manufacturer Uniwheels has announced plans to expand its production operation in Poland by a further 2 million or so wheels. The original equipment supplier and manufacturer of the ATS, Rial, Alutec and Anzio aftermarket alloy rim brands produced over six million wheels at its two plants in Stalowa Wola last year; in addition to the aforementioned capacity boost, the erection of a third facility there will increase the site’s workforce with a further 250 jobs.
Uniwheels AG, the company behind the ATS, Rial, Alutec and Anzio wheel brands, says its unit sales rose 5.2 per cent in 2014. During the year it sold a total of 7.2 million wheels in both the original equipment and aftermarket segments.
The Uniwheels Germany factory in Werdohl delivers alloy wheels to a number of Volvo models, including the XC60, XC70 and XC90. This supply has been acknowledged the car maker; at a ceremony held in Sweden at the end of last year, Uniwheels Germany received a 2014 Volvo Quality Through Excellence Award (VQE Award). The company says it obtained this prestigious award by achieving the maximum score in all 12 relevant criteria categories.
Leading wheelmaker Uniwheels Group reports that it managed to both increase revenues 5.8 per cent and stabilise the company’s overall business in full-year 2013 results published today (24 March 2014). According to the company, the business’s growth came largely thanks to the “very positive” development of the firm’s Automotive Division, which focuses on supplying the OEM business and grew 12 per cent in 2013. In addition, the successful implementation of cost-cutting measures in the administration of the business is also said to have had a positive impact.
As of 10 February, Dr. Karsten Obenaus is the new CFO of alloy wheel manufacturer Uniwheels. Previously head of financial accounting, Dr. Obenaus has long held senior positions within Uniwheels’ finance department. He succeeds Eckehard Forberich, who has left the company. Forberich held the role of CFO since 1 July 2011.
Uniwheels reports that its ‘Thalassa’ rim has been selected as an original equipment fitment on the Volvo XC90. The Swedish four-wheel drive will receive a 20-inch diameter version of the lightweight, five twin-spoke alloy rim.
Uniwheels shares that it is supplying 20-inch alloy wheels to the latest BMW 6 Series M Sport Edition. The wheels are produced at the company’s Werdohl plant in Germany and are fitted to order on Coupé, Cabrio and Gran Coupé versions of the model.
Uniwheels’ has been selected to provide OE wheels for the new Audi A8 Hybrid. The contract sees Uniwheels provide its “19-inch hybrid aluminium wheel”, which is said to offer an exclusive aerodynamic design.
Uniwheels, a long time supplier of alloy wheels to Honda Access, has been given a “Honda Access Europe Award” for its excellent overall performance in 2012. This is the second consecutive Honda Access award that the Uniwheels Production (Poland) Sp z.o.o. operation has received.
It’s now been about four decades since alloy wheels began winning ground from steel passenger car wheels, and these products really came into their own in the 80s and 90s. Alloy wheels were seen as ‘the best thing since sliced bread’ and sold accordingly. This trend, which started off in the replacement sector, progressed into original equipment; initially only prestige and sport models were equipped with alloys, yet within a few years their use spread to small cars and some entry-level models. The alloy wheel industry boomed and made good money – until a number of thresholds were crossed: Suppliers found themselves with more products than demand justified; fierce competition drove prices down until aftermarket rims were cheaper than their original equipment equivalents. Exquisite accessories became commodities, interchangeable products. Everyday products.
The market can change so quickly: Passenger car alloy wheel manufacturers, both large and small, recently and sometimes reluctantly reduced their production capacity while others became casualties of the consolidation that takes place within the sector whenever overcapacity is present in the market. Now the picture is very different. Alloy wheel firms are desperate to find factories whose utilisation capacities are less than a hundred per cent.
The early 2008 acquisition of the ATS-Group’s European interests by the UniWheels group has led to the emergence of an aluminium wheel business that ranks number three in the European market. Subsequent to the purchase, which followed the insolvency of ATS Beteiligungs in July 2007, UniWheels has assumed the number three market position in Europe behind Ronal and Borbet (who produce approximately 12 million wheels per annum each) and ahead of Hayes Lemmerz and Turkish supplier CMS.
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