Aluminum wheel maker breaks ground in India

United States-based Maxion Wheels, which bills itself as the world’s largest wheel manufacturer, held a groundbreaking ceremony in mid-February near the city of Pune, India, at the future site of its 25,000-square-meter (270,000-square-foot) plant.

“With our new Pune passenger car aluminum wheel plant, Maxion Wheels becomes the first global light vehicle aluminum wheel producer in the Indian market,” says Maxion Wheels CEO Pieter Klinkers. “We responded to our growing global customers’ requests and made the investment to join them in the world’s fastest-growing economy.”

Adds Klinkers, “When our project is complete, we will produce 4 million aluminum wheels annually. In this first phase, an investment of more than $50 million will be spent on the land and state-of-the-art plant and equipment for the manufacturing of 2 million wheels annually. Start of production is expected in the third quarter of 2019.”

Maxion indicates that “hundreds of guests, including company dignitaries, customers, suppliers and associates” attended the event, which included a plaque unveiling and what the firm calls a traditional Hindu ground-breaking ritual.

The new wholly owned operation will produce low-pressure die-cast aluminum wheels with what Maxion calls a high-end wheel finish, is expected to initially bring more than 1,000 new direct and indirect jobs to the region.

Spanish equipment maker Insertec provided a 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds)-per-hour scrap melting furnace to Maxion’s Brazilian melt shop in 2016, indicative of the role of scrap in the die-cast aluminum wheel making process.

Maxion Wheels is a United States-based division of Brazil-based Iochpe-Maxion S.A. and makes wheels for passenger cars, light trucks, buses, commercial trucks and trailers, plus agricultural, military and other off-highway vehicles. The firm indicates it produces 58 million wheels each year, working from 28 locations in 15 countries.