Hungary - Arconic-Köfém has broken ground at a site where its new truck wheel factory is being built. Costing €105m (US$130m), the plant is located in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Operations are scheduled to begin at the end of 2019 and the new factory should create around 200 jobs.
“Our truck wheels help customers increase payload while saving fuel and reducing maintenance,” explained Tim Myers, president of Arconic’s transportation and construction solutions and global rolled products businesses. The Hungarian expansion will help the company capture growing demand for such products, he added.
The site will play a key role in Arconic's goal of doubling its production capacity of its Alcoa wheels. Made from one piece of fully forged aluminium, the company says that they are 47% lighter but five times stronger than steel wheels of the same size.
Arconic’s Wheel and Transportation Products unit - which manufactures Alcoa® Wheels - has three primary manufacturing plants in Cleveland (US), Monterrey (Mexico) and Székesfehérvár, where it produces the initial forgings as well as further machining and finishing. The company also carries out machining and finishing at secondary plants in China, Japan and Brazil.
Arconic-Köfém’s ground-breaking in Székesfehérvár is the third automotive industry-related development in Hungary in recent days. Automotive components manufacturer thyssenkrupp of Germany has opened a €100m factory in Jászfényszaru to make electric power steering and valve train systems, while compatriot Continental is to build a new plant in Debrecen at a cost of €100m to produce sensors, actuators and transmission control units.
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