Caparo makes its first appearance at PRI show

Caparo’s ability to deliver a full vertically integrated Tier 1 service, from component conceptualisation through test and development to the manufacture of high performance parts including the logistics of customer delivery, is the key message accompanying the products and services presented by the Caparo group, which makes its debut today at the Performance Racing Industry trade show.

“The US motorsport sector is an important market for Caparo,” said Caparo group chief executive Angad Paul. “As a major player in the automotive industry, with manufacturing facilities in the US, UK, India and Spain, our attendance will help draw attention to our technology and engineering capabilities and the significant investments we’re making in new manufacturing facilities.

“Currently, 35 per cent of our business is in the US and 60 per cent in the UK, with less than 5 per cent in India. Our production footprint needs to be about the same in each territory, which is why India is our target for future expansion with seven plants already built in the last three years and nine more under construction. The combination of our advanced engineering capabilities in the UK, where we form part of the UK Motorsport Valley, and new low cost manufacturing facilities in India will help us provide the high quality cost efficient products demanded by the US motorsport industry.”

The three day event runs from Thursday 14 December to Saturday 16 December 2006 at the Orange County Convention Center at Orlando in Florida, where some of the products and services of Caparo Vehicle Products, Caparo Aluminium Technologies and Caparo Atlas Fastenings will be presented on booths 813 to 815.

“We attended the show last year, when the company traded as Zeus, before we became part of the Caparo group,” said Caparo Aluminium Technologies’ technical sales manager, Matt Woodward, who is helping to man the Caparo stand. “It is a well attended trade event, which is expected to attract more than 42,000 people involved in the US motor racing business interested in the latest in motorsport technology. It’s ideal for networking, meeting new and existing clients and generating sales leads. Last year, we took a number of worthwhile orders.”

“It’s not simply the news that Caparo is presenting itself for the first time at this show, but that the group has been extremely busy over the past year, so we have a lot to tell our US customers,” added Richard Butler, chief executive, Caparo Vehicle Products. “This event is the world’s largest motor racing trade exhibition and one of the largest trade shows in all of North America, so it’s a great opportunity to present the company and explain its mission to the US motorsport industry.

“Since we’re a major supplier of engine blocks and cylinder heads and other motorsport components for race cars and high performance vehicles, I believe the US market will be interested to learn that Caparo has been building up its capability to become for example a leading global supplier of high quality, specialist aluminium cast components.

“In the UK, we have acquired Zeus and Bridge Aluminium, which complement existing foundries within the group. Bridge is the largest UK aluminium gravity die caster and a leading supplier of turbocharger and fuel injection components. Caparo Aluminium Technologies is a leading supplier of high quality specialist aluminium cast components such as engine blocks and cylinder heads, and following major investment operates a state-of-the-art foundry, where it is currently installing a new sand moulding facility for large castings.

“These acquisitions and additional investments have already established Caparo as the leading UK aluminium gravity die and sand caster accounting for approximately half of all UK output. In India, we are investing in new forgings and stampings facilities for the automotive sector and we also have a new foundry under construction at Chennai for high pressure die casting production, which will further help consolidate Caparo as a leading global supplier of aluminium automotive components. These acquisitions and commercial investments underpin the group’s strategy to be a high technology based, customer service focused, OEM supplier.

“An extensive range of casting processes can now be offered by the group including precision and gravity die casting, horizontal casting, low pressure casting and high pressure casting, all supported by design work, computer simulation, pattern and tool making, in-house CNC machining through to casting, machining and assembly.

“We are also building a full vertically integrated supply chain capability and have the wherewithal within the group of taking ideas and concepts through design, prototype build, test and development, into specialist areas such as low volumes of build for the motorsport industry and high volume manufacture for the mainstream automotive sector. It’s a total service.”

“Our objective for this exhibition is to provide customers with a glimpse of Caparo’s extensive range of components and services and help them understand that we’re a tightly integrated and highly synchronised organisation, albeit comprised of a number of autonomous sister companies,” said Major Willmore, new business development engineer, Caparo Atlas Fastenings.

“Our new mono-block brake calliper developed by Caparo AP Braking for high performance sports car applications, for example, is produced from a single aluminium casting from Caparo Aluminium Technologies and incorporates a recently developed thread forming fastener supplied by Caparo Atlas Fastenings, one of only a few companies licensed for this new technology, which eliminates the need for a separate machining operation to form the required thread.

“The calliper has been designed for extreme deceleration from high speed and its first application is the ultra high performance Caparo T1 track and road car produced by Caparo Vehicle Technologies – a subsidiary of Caparo Vehicle Products. It’s but one example of how we’re working together to deliver a total service”.

Caparo Atlas Fastenings is the UK’s leading manufacturer of specialist fasteners with patented anti-slip and torque tension characteristics for critical applications. Licences are held for a number of leading brands, such as Taptite®, Powerlok® and Torx®, along with the Atlas own brand of high performance fasteners. It is also the largest supplier of cold forgings for formed and threaded fasteners in the UK and like other companies in the group has similarly established a new high volume manufacturing facility in India.