Wheels India Engineers Solutions For OEMs

Chennai-headquartered Wheels India, part of the TVS Group, is planning to manufacture cabins for construction and mining equipment.

These cabins will be primarily for multinational OEMs operating in India and for exports, Srivats Ram, Managing Director of the company, said. The cabins will be manufactured at one of its satellite plants in Chennai.

He told AutoParts Asia that the company has been supporting the wheels requirements of the mining and construction equipment industry. The company holds about 20 percent market share, globally, outside of China, in the wheels for mining and construction equipment. It is also manufacturing body unit for this equipment. Bodies for dumper manufactured by Wheels India go to domestic customers, however, half of these equipment are exported. In addition, the company has been catering to the specific requirements of windmills and railways.

Catering to the automotive industry has been the prime focus of the company since it was established in 1962. The company has been a partner with several Indian and global OEMs including Ford, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Case New Holland, Ashok Leyland, Tafe and Suzuki.

At the recently-concluded Auto Expo Components Show the company showcased several new technological solutions that the vehicle manufacturers have been looking for. Ram said, “Our objective to participate in the show was on two counts. One, to look at where we have been able to engineer solutions to overcome problems that people have due to various applications. Accordingly, one part of our exhibits was related to different designs that we have come up with, to overcome problems of customers.” For instance, the company displayed steel wheels that look like aluminium wheels. There was also another wheel that has been redesigned to take a bigger brake drum.