Carbon Revolution wins new wheel contract – but where will they be made

By Peter Roberts

Carbon fibre road wheel manufacturer Carbon Revolution‘s birthplace of Geelong, Victoria, or perhaps Mexico will manufacture a new wheel to be produced in a deal announced by the newly minted American-listed Carbon Revolution PLC.

The company said it has been awarded a wheel development programme by a premium brand of a major German automaker.

As usual the company did not name the customer at this stage, but will reveal that when they adorn a new model in a few years time.

By then the company’s mega-line production system in Geelong will probably be hitting its straps, but by then the company could well have fled Australian manufacturing for the benefits of Mexico.

A company spokesman confirmed @AuManufacturing’s recent story that it was looking at Mexico as a site for its first large scale manufacturing plant.

So the company, born out of publicly funded research at Deakin University in Geelong, backed by Australian taxpayer grants and supported by Australian shareholders until Covid disrupted global automotive markets sees no reason to manufacture locally.

It is not as if labour is a major cost – the Geelong plant is fully automated.

It must be proximity to markets, or is it a fact that globally successful Australian manufacturers just see no particular reason for investing in Australia?

Overall, the Company has been awarded 18 vehicle programs for six global OEMs including Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company, Renault, Ferrari N.V. and Jaguar Land Rover.

The company’s production backlog more than doubled between October 2022 to September 2023 to US$730 million.

Further reading:
Carbon Revolution to manufacture in Mexico – media report

Picture: Carbon Revolution/staff at the Geelong plant