The company has increased its production of forged aluminium wheels for sale in Europe and America
The efforts undertaken by Wheels India to establish markets overseas saw the company cross the milestone of Rs 1,000 crore in exports last year. “The foundation has been built to grow the export market along with customers in the coming years,” S Ram, Chairman, Wheels India told shareholders at the 63rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company. The company was able to increase its production of forged aluminium wheels for sale in Europe and America. “In the last year, we saw the first full year of production of cast aluminium wheels from the new plant at Thervoy Kandigai in Tamil Nadu,” Ram said.
“The wheels are sold to the largest aftermarket distributor of cast aluminium wheels in the world. The demand is expected to grow this year,” he added. Wheels India is a significant supplier of wheels to the construction equipment industry worldwide. Ram said that there was a strong revival in this segment last year as demand in most economies saw a recovery post-pandemic and that this demand is expected to remain strong over the coming months. He added that he expected the company to continue to increase exports in construction wheels, tractor wheels and aluminium wheels.
Windmill Segment
The developed world, particularly Europe, is facing an energy crisis following the conflict in Ukraine. Ram said that this should improve the prospects for the global windmill industry where Wheels India supplies parts.
CV and PV Revival
Talking about the commercial vehicle (CV) sector, he said that with increased industrial activities, the company saw some growth in this segment. The demand for small, light, intermediate and heavy commercial vehicles is increasing after two successive years of steep decline. While the passenger vehicle (PV) segment was restricted by availability of semiconductors despite an uptick in demand, the automotive industry should see an improvement this year with moderation of commodity inflation and improving availability of parts, Ram said.
Other Businesses
Ram further said that there had been some improvement in demand for lift axles used in heavy-duty trucks in the latter part of last year and expected further improvement this year. During the year, the Board of Directors had approved the merger of Sundaram Hydraulics Ltd. with Wheels India. Ram said that this was likely to help the growth of hydraulic products manufactured by Sundaram Hydraulics for the construction industry, where Wheels India has a strong strategic relationship with many customers.