According to Jürgen Gareis, plant manager at alloy wheel manufacturer Borbert’s Thuringia factory in Germany and managing director of Borbert Thüringen GmbH, the company’s cast aluminium wheel plants in Hallenberg-Hesborn and Medebach, both in Germany’s Sauerland region, combine to make up Europe’s largest wheel production complex. Company boss and (with a 76 per cent share) majority shareholder Peter Wilhelm Borbet points out the factories may not qualify for this distinction as they are not under the same roof. But whatever way you look at it, the figures are impressive: In 2012 the major OEM wheel supplier projects an output of four million units from these plants.