Ronal AG is a manufacturer of

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

s for cars and commercial vehicles, with its headquarters in Härkingen, Switzerland. The company employs more than 8000 personnel and produces both cast and forged wheels. The company is active in both the OEM and aftermarket for cars and commercial vehicles. Ronal AG has thirteen wheel production facilities, two factories for tool manufacturing, a logistics center and has its own sales locations in eleven countries. The company produces approximately 21 million wheels annually for the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % su ...

and its own brands Ronal, Speedline Corse and Speedline Truck. Ronal AG develops and produces its own production tools. This takes place at the sites Cantanhede in Portugal and Härkingen in Switzerland. Härkingen is home to both the headquarters and Ronal's own research and development centre. SanSwiss GmbH, a manufacturer of shower units, based in Forst in Baden Württemberg, also belongs to Ronal Group. Ronal AG headquarter

History

Ronal was founded in Germany in 1969 by Karl Wirth. The entrepreneur and

Formula V Fórmula V is a Spanish pop musical quintet founded in 1965 in Spain. The musical style is very much in the style of 60's rock similar to the Beatles and Monkees. In the late 1960s the band experienced enormous popularity in Spain and Latin A ...

driver saw a need for aluminum wheels. Wirth thus became one of the pioneers of light alloy wheels on the global market. The first factory was opened back in 1978 in France. In 2007 Ronal AG purchased Italian wheel manufacturer Speedline, which covers the commercial vehicle segment including trucks, trailers and buses. This helped the group expand into the

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

and Formula 1 sectors as well as into weight-optimized flow forming technology. 83 FIA titles have been won on Speedline Corse wheels. In 2012, Ronal expanded its range to include forged wheels with the majority stake in Fullchamp in Taiwan. In 2013, Ronal AG joined forces with the Australian company, Carbon Revolution, to launch the first one-piece

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes ...

wheel on the European market.

Divisions

*OEM: Original equipment manufacturing for automobile manufacturers around the world *Cars: Aftermarket parts sold with the brands Ronal, Speedline Corse and Carbon Revolution *Commercial vehicles: OEM and aftermarket parts for trucks, buses and trailers with the brand Speedline Truck *SanSwiss: High quality shower units. The brand owns production plants in Germany, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain and Romania.

Technology

Ronal AG works to make the wheels lighter with technologies such as flowforming,

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at whi ...

, undercuting and

. Furthermore, Ronal AG uses process for the surface finishing like multi color rim (MCR), pad printing,

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...

and diamond cutting and polishing.

External links

References

{{reflist Wheel manufacturers Auto parts suppliers of Switzerland Swiss brands