Germany is not just Europe’s largest single tire market. Sales of wheel balancing weights there account for a large portion of the region’s total sales of this product, so a German market presence is naturally a very good thing indeed.
Therefore, it has understandably concerned U.K. manufacturer Trax JH that it has been unable to sell zinc weights into Germany since European directive 2000/53/EC came into effect on July 1, 2005.
All this is set to change, however. Trax is tooling up to begin volume production of an innovative new steel wheel weight, and the company’s sights are firmly set on the German market.
“One of the motivations for moving to steel is that in 2004 a company called Franken Werke (since purchased by the Wegmann Group) put a patent through the German patent office and patented zinc,” states Trax managing director John Hallé upon introducing the Cam-Back universal weight for steel wheels. “We don’t know how, because our patent attorney said we couldn’t do it in the U.K., but after four attempts they did it. After that we couldn’t sell zinc weights in Germany – and Germany accounts for 30% of all European weight sales by value. It’s a huge market, so we started looking at some alternatives.”
Steel was the obvious material for a zinc alternative, and one of its advantages particularly stands out: Hallé offers evidence of zinc’s erratic price fluctuations in the years since lead weights were banned. “We expect steel’s price stability to work in our favor.”
Attractive as the more stable steel prices may be, cost factors alone do not make a good product. Hallé admits that, for all its shortcomings, the lead used in weights years ago was a very easy substance to work with. “There have been steel weights coming in from China and Japan, but none of them have found real acceptance in the European market. We’re the first European manufacturer to launch a steel balance weight, and what’s unique about our product is that it’s got two cams on the back. What that means is that it’s a very universal solution. You can put it on almost any passenger car, and it will retain.
“In other words, it will not slide. With other products when you brake hard, the weight can slide and the wheel goes out of balance. Motorists experience this problem every day because poor quality weights are being used. With our weights, you knock them on and they will keep working. And that’s what we sell, we sell peace of mind. That’s what you get with a quality product.”
Trax intends to begin production after the summer and will install additional machinery to give a production capacity of more than 100 million pieces per year. “At the moment, everything we’re doing is aimed at Germany and Central Europe, we’re giving them first priority with capacity and we’ve got targets to sell some product there this year,” Hallé explains.
In addition to producing a new design steel balancing weight, Trax also builds the machinery used in their manufacture. And this gives the British company a further opportunity. “By also developing the equipment to assemble the weights, we are in a position where we can look at franchising it globally. All the big automotive weight manufacturers have huge plants making hundreds of millions of products and shipping them all round the world. Our idea is that we will manufacture in the U.K. and supply Europe, but there are other markets where supply from the U.K. isn’t practicable. We’re not going to be supplying Indonesia or South America, for example. We can supply the components, we can supply the machinery, and they can make the weights themselves in Indonesia, or China or wherever. We’re the only company offering this.”
The Trax managing director foresees this option will be attractive in countries where lead weights are still being produced and used: “Bridgestone, for example, have said that all of their tire shops worldwide have to be lead-free. In addition, if a car company manufactures in Asia and the cars come to Europe or Japan, they have to fit lead-free weights. The volumes might be only 20%-25% of what they’re using, but they haven’t got the money or know-how to invest in lead-free – so we can sell them a piece of kit which will do the whole thing for them.”
At present Trax is taking expressions of interest from potential customers in advance of a 2011 launch.
Last November Trax opened a subsidiary in the U.S. While the company’s American portfolio currently covers a restricted range of products, Hallé sees the potential this market holds: “We’re only selling adhesive weights there at the moment, but we’re creating brand awareness. We are showing ourselves to be an innovative brand that is making products to OE standards. We are looking for manufacturing opportunities for steel clip-on weights in the U.S., either through a franchise or by ourselves. Market testing will be carried out later this year leading to discussions at the SEMA Show in November, where we have an exhibition stand.”
According to Hallé, Trax is investing “a lot of money” in this new project. Initially the supply of the new weights will be limited to the aftermarket. However, the managing director does acknowledge the steel weights’ potential for OEM customers further down the track. “It’s a better solution than anything the European manufacturers have to offer,” he shares. “This is a market leading product.” (Tyres & Accessories)
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