Formation1969 (1969)
FounderKarl Wirth
Founded atForst (Baden), Germany
HeadquartersHärkingen, Switzerland
LeaderOliver Brauner
Staff
8,000+

Ronal AG[1] is a manufacturer of wheels for cars and commercial vehicles, with its headquarters in Härkingen, Switzerland. The company employs more than 8000 personnel[2] 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 and its own brands Ronal, Speedline Corse and Speedline Truck.[3] 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.[4]

SanSwiss GmbH, a manufacturer of shower units, based in Forst in Baden Württemberg, also belongs to Ronal Group.[5]

Ronal AG headquarters in Härkingen

History

1983 Volkswagen Golf on aftermarket Ronal R10 Turbo wheels

Ronal was founded in Germany in 1969 by Karl Wirth.[6] The entrepreneur and Formula V driver saw a need for aluminum wheels.[7] 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,[8] which covers the commercial vehicle segment including trucks, trailers and buses. This helped the group expand into the racing and Formula 1 sectors as well as into weight-optimized flow forming technology. 83 FIA titles have been won on Speedline Corse wheels.[9] 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 wheel on the European market.[10]

Divisions

  • OEM: Original equipment manufacturing for automobile manufacturers around the world
  • Cars: Aftermarket parts sold with the brands Ronal, Speedline Corse
  • 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.[11]

Technology

Ronal AG works to make the wheels lighter with technologies such as flowforming, forging, undercuting and carbon. Furthermore, Ronal AG uses process for the surface finishing like multi color rim (MCR), pad printing, laser and diamond cutting and polishing.

References

  1. ↑ Ronal AG, Handelsregister des Kantons Solothurn, retrieved 9 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Ronal breaks ground for Mexico wheel plant". Tire Business. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2016. The company does not disclose annual sales or other financial data; it employs more than 8,000 worldwide.
  3. ↑ "Ronal AG". Schon 1978 wurde das erste Werk in Frankreich eröffnet, heute werden in 10 Werken auf 3 Kontinenten über 19 Mio. Räder pro Jahr produziert.
  4. ↑ "Ronal Group Locations". Ronal Group Homepage. Retrieved 2016-04-07. In order to safeguard the highest quality, manufactures its own production tools. The production of the tools takes place in both Portugal - Cantanhede - and Switzerland - Härkingen. Apart from the tooling department, Härkingen also accommodates the Research & Development department and the headquarters of the group. This geographical and organizational structure secures short development times at the highest quality and know-how levels.
  5. ↑ SanSwiss, retrieved 9 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Oberschmidt, Norbert (2015). "Von der Piste auf die Straße". Das Rad (in German). Ronal AG. p. 132. ISBN 978-3-89735-869-0. Als weiterer deutscher Hersteller bot die Karl Wirth GmbH in Walldorf ab April 1969 Räder unter der Bezeichnung "RONAL" an.
  7. ↑ McCourt, Mark J. (June 2015). "Ronal - This innovative wheel firm quickly became an OEM supplier of choice". Hemmings. Retrieved 13 May 2016. Surprisingly, he found his potential business clients were more interested in the cast-aluminum wheels that he'd fitted to his Opel; those wheels had been fitted by Norbert Oberschmidt from wheel manufacturer Remotec, where Norbert occasionally worked while studying math and physics. Karl recognized Norbert as a fellow "car guy" and convinced him to join his firm, instructing customers in using Ron-Testequipment. A month after the men joined forces, Karl started selling aluminum wheels, and tasked Norbert with designing wheels in-house.
  8. ↑ "Ronal History" (PDF). Ronal Group Homepage. Retrieved 7 April 2016. The latest and most remarkable development was the acquisition of the majority of Speedline Italy, in May 2007.
  9. ↑ "Speedline Corse Ltd". Ronal Group. Retrieved 7 May 2018. In partnership with leading motorsport teams and car manufacturers, Speedline has won 83 FIA sanctioned world championship titles including Formula 1, World Rally Championship, Sports Prototype and Rally Raid.
  10. ↑ Achorn, George (4 December 2014). "Essen Motor Show 2014". VW Vortex. Retrieved 6 April 2016. In addition, Speedline shared again its carbon fiber "Carbon Revolution CR-9", a one-piece carbon fiber wheel and the first of its kind to be introduced in Europe. The wheel sets new standards in terms of weight, performance and comfort and is already approved for use in Switzerland and the UK.
  11. ↑ "Home". sanswiss.com.
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