China's Wheel Rim & Cover Industry Growing Rapidly

DUBLIN, Ireland--Oct. 17, 2005--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c25873) has announced the addition of Car Wheel Rims & Covers in China to their offering

China's car wheel rim and cover industry is growing rapidly, fueled by the booming auto industry in the mainland. Ford, Fiat, Toyota, GM, Volvo, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan and Isuzu are some of the international automakers that have set up production facilities in China.

The country exported US$562.2 million worth of wheel rims and covers in 2003, and exports from January to April 2004 grew 71 percent from US$158 million in the first four months of 2003 to US$270.3 million. Impressive growth is expected to continue in the coming years. Output for aluminum wheel rims alone is forecast to grow 120 percent from 26.4 million units in 2003 to 40 million units this year.

This is reiterated in our Supplier Survey, which shows the majority of companies forecasting increased sales in 2005. Most of them will also increase production capacities to meet the anticipated surge in export demand.

This report provides 15 in-depth profiles of major car wheel rim and cover manufacturers based on factory tours and interviews with senior managers. These provide detailed information on suppliers' product offerings, manufacturing capabilities and future plans. 22 short profiles of additional suppliers with key facts such as production capacities, production checklists, export ratios and major export markets are also provided.

The study includes detailed and comparative product descriptions for 91 best-selling car wheel rims and covers. Supplier rankings by key capabilities such as production capacities, assembly lines, export sales, R&D resources and QC staffing levels are included.

Benefits of this report:

- Obtain the results of the latest supplier survey, forecasting price, product, production and R&D trends for car wheel rims and covers over the next 12 months

- Identify which companies already have VIA (Japan), TUV, SFI and ISO/TS16949 approvals, and which companies are supplying direct to the aftermarket

- Discover which manufacturers have their own aluminum-alloy smelting plants and which have started using magnesium alloy - lighter and stronger than aluminum alloy - in their range of wheel rims

- Get in-depth analysis of suppliers' raw-material sourcing policies and assess which manufacturers are more successful than others in keeping prices low despite rising raw-material costs

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c25873