Accuride Restructures Light Wheel Production

    EVANSVILLE, Ind. & COLUMBIA, Tenn.--May 1, 2001--Today, Accuride Corporation announced plans to optimize its operations by restructuring the Company's light wheel operations and closing its Columbia, Tennessee, facility. Accuride will consolidate the production of light wheels currently produced in Columbia into its other facilities.
    Consolidation of the operations should be completed by the third quarter of 2002. Accuride will maintain production in Columbia until all customer orders can be fulfilled through production at Accuride's other facilities. Currently, Columbia employs approximately 60 persons.
    "While Columbia met our expectations operationally, market dynamics make it no longer feasible for us to manufacture single light wheels in a stand-alone facility," explained Bill Greubel, Accuride's President and CEO. "As a result, we have made the difficult decision to close our Columbia, Tennessee, facility."
    The closure of Columbia and the consolidation of Accuride's light wheel business will eliminate significant fixed overhead costs and will allow the Company to be price competitive in the light steel wheel market. As of today, however, Accuride has not finalized its plans regarding which of the Accuride facilities will absorb the Columbia production equipment.

    Accuride Corporation is North America's largest manufacturer and supplier of wheels for heavy/medium trucks and trailers. The Company offers the broadest product line in the North American heavy/medium wheel industry and is the only North American manufacturer and supplier of both steel and forged aluminum heavy/medium wheels. Accuride Corporation produces wheels for buses, commercial light trucks, sport utility vehicles, and passenger cars. Accuride has steel wheel operations in Henderson, Kentucky; Columbia, Tennessee; London, Ontario, Canada; and Monterrey, Mexico. Accuride has aluminum wheel operations in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Additionally, the Company produces tire molds at its Erie, Pennsylvania, facility. Accuride is also involved in a commercial tire and wheel assembly joint venture in Springfield, Ohio, and Talbotville, Ontario, Canada. For more information, visit Accuride's website at http://www.accuridecorp.com.

    Statements contained in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the Company's expectations, hopes, beliefs and intentions on strategies regarding the future. It is important to note that the Company's actual future results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements because of a number of factors, including but not limited to general economic, business and financing conditions, labor relations, governmental action, competitor pricing activity, expense volatility and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Accuride assumes no obligation to update the information included in this release.