By Samuel Ee

Coloured wheels from YHI

When once car owners used to settle for a set of dull silver alloy wheels, colour is now cool. Local retailers say more and more people are choosing coloured rims and that they notice the trend starting recently.

'YHI is selling a lot more coloured wheels these days,' says Richard Tay, group managing director of YHI International, which makes its own Advanti brand. He adds that market demand for these more eye-catching rims began to grow about three years ago. 'This is because the demand for automotive after-market accessories like car bodykits and brakes increased. As wheels are a fashion statement, they are perfect for consumers who want to dress up their vehicles,' he says. Depending on preference, someone who chooses coloured wheels wants to match or contrast them with his car's own hues, according to Mr Tay.

Over at Stamford Tyres, half of the alloy wheels sold at its outlets across the island are coloured. 'We saw the trend picking up late last year and today, about 50% of the rims we sell are coloured,' says John Ang, Stamford Tyres head of retail chain. This compares with just 20% for the whole of 2007. The company offers its own SSW inhouse brand, as well as high-end Japanese rims. Mr Ang says that for the SSW range offered, half of the designs have a coloured alternative. 'Other than the usual silver and hyper silver, we also offer black, off-white, gunmetal, bronze, grey, anodised gold, anodised bronze, anodised grey, matt black, and matt bronze,' he says. 'We also have different polishing finishes, such as full polish and mirror polish. The lip of the rim can also be polished and for certain types of wheels, we have the lip in red or orange.'

According to Mr Ang, two particularly popular choices are black and white wheels with a red lip. There are also blue and yellow lips but these are not available in Singapore yet.

Stamford Tyres, a mainboard-listed company, is a global tyre and wheel specialist. It operates Singapore's biggest auto accessories retail chain, as well as designs and manufactures alloy wheels at its Thailand factory.

YHI is also listed. It is a worldwide distributor of automotive and industrial products and also designs and produces alloy wheels in China, Taiwan and Malaysia.

According to YHI's Mr Tay, the coloured trend began in the US about five years ago when Konig, a major American brand and part of the YHI Group, started making a black, full polished wheel, resulting in a new and flashy two-toned rim.

Apart from coloured wheels, car buyers also have the choice of chrome wheels but Stamford Tyres' Mr Ang says demand for these is small, mainly because of maintenance issues. 'In the past, there were many cheap chrome wheels from Asian manufacturers and there were problems with the chrome flaking off and discoloration. Because of this, many people were put off chrome, especially the cheap brands,' he explains.

However, he points out that there are many good quality chrome wheels from Japan but they come at 'a very high price'. For example, an 18-inch chrome wheel would cost more than $900 apiece, compared with a similar Japanese wheel in a normal colour for about $600 each.

Mr Ang says colour and chrome cater to different markets. 'Chrome wheels are in a segment of its own and they are big in the US and Australia for the bling factor,' says Mr Ang. 'Coloured wheels have more of the racing look.' Apart from cost, he says chrome wheels are also less popular because of their weight. Compared with coloured wheels, chrome rims are about 20 to 30% heavier on average due to the chroming process. 'Nowadays, everyone is looking for lighter wheels to cut fuel consumption and not lose too much power,' he says. But be prepared to pay slightly more for coloured rims. Mr Ang says their cost is usually 5 to 10% above conventional silver rims.

At Stamford Tyres, the list price of a 14-inch coloured rim starts from $110 per piece. At the other end of the size and price scale, a 17-inch version costs from $245 each. But for the sake of automotive style, it's a small price to pay.

samuelee@sph.com.sg