Can the auto industry afford to ignore the magnesium wheel?

Once resigned to purely motorsport and aftermarket applications, magnesium wheels could make a comeback as the ability for OEMs to eek out further weight reductions becomes ever more challenging.

Reducing unsprung weight – that which is not supported by the suspension system – is generally considered a missed opportunity by vehicle manufacturers. While aluminium and steel compositions have improved in leaps and bounds over the last few decades, one supplier believes that magnesium could be the next frontier.

In 2015, California-based RSR Wheels, a sister company of MKW Alloy, launched a new series of one-piece forged magnesium alloy wheels as part of an aftermarket offering to high-performance vehicles. But Bill Koenig, Executive Vice President of MKW Alloy, tells Automotive World there may be