Steel Strips Wheels to supply wheel rims to Renault

Steel Strips Wheels Ltd (SSWL) will supply high-tech steer wheel rims for European carmaker Renault. The rims will be used in one of the new vehicles that Renault plans to launch in early 2011, SSWL said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Renault, one of the largest manufacturers of cars in Europe and a leading manufacturer of light commercial vehicles, has a joint venture with Mahindra and Mahindra in India and is in the process of a major expansion in India.

SSWL, which has already developed the steel wheel, is likely to start supply of the wheels to Renault from the fourth quarter of 2010 and expects to supply around 30 lakh wheels over 5 years.

The company expects export revenues of nearly 4.7 million euros from the deal.

SSWL has a mutually beneficial partnership with Japan's Sumitomo group company, Ring Techs Company Limited, which is a major OEM supplier to Honda Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, and Fuji Heavy Industries, in Japan.

The company procures HR coils from Tata Steel, that are consistent with the physical and chemical properties specified by Ring Techs Company Limited, thereby reducing product design time.

With factories at Dappar in Punjab, Chennai (Tamilnadu) and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, the company manufactures and markets steel wheel rims for passenger cars, utility vehicles, three wheelers, scooters, agriculture tractors and commercial vehicles for both tubeless and tube types.