Outside

1. Origins

The history of FONDMETAL began in Palosco, a small town between Bergamo and Brescia, on June 24, 1972.

The company was founded as a contract aluminum foundry, continuing what is a family tradition: in fact, as early as 1908, the great-grandfather of Stefano and Alessandra Rumi, Fondmetal‘s current owners, owned a cast iron foundry.

Foundry

2. The transition to automotive

In the beginning Fondmetal, founded by Gabriele Rumi (Stefano and Alessandra’s father), was involved in the production of a wide variety of parts, but as time went on, due to both customer demands and Rumi’s passion for cars and racing, the company became increasingly specialized in making parts for theautomotive industry.

Intake manifolds, water sleeves, clutch housings, oil pans are born in Palosco. Fondmetal thus comes to make such important parts as cylinder heads and crankcases for engines destined for the Maserati Biturbo.

Packaging

3. The bold turn toward independence

All this, however, is not enough for Rumi to guarantee Fondmetal‘s total independence, tied totally and absolutely to the needs of its customers, especially in such a sensitive period following the oil crisis.

The difficult times of the famous austerity convinced Gabriele Rumi of the indispensable need to launch his own product in order to redeem himself from the inevitable dependence on commissioning. This is a courageous decision, involving a considerable and complicated effort to convert and develop equipment, but one that does not frighten the Bergamo-based company.

Painting

4. Leadership and excellence in alloy wheels

The choice of product, by elective affinity with the automotive world, falls on alloy wheels. And the new, large investments are made with the aim of offering a high quality product to customers.

There are characteristics that have enabled Fondmetal to be a leader in light alloy wheel products for years: product quality (TÜV, ECE, NAD approval), IATF 16949, UNI EN ISO 14001 and UNI EN ISO 9001 certification, technological mindset gained on race tracks around the world, production facilities at the forefront of technology, flexibility, reliability, and speed.

50th

5. The 50th anniversary

In summer 2022 Fondmetal celebrated its 50th anniversary with a series of special events involving employees and customers.

One of these was the market launch of the special anniversary wheel, called 1972, to celebrate 50 years of design and innovation.

Future

6. Fondmetal Today

Fondmetal continues to look ahead: in July 2023, the company took a further step toward sustainability, choosing to power all of its plants exclusively with renewable energy.

Visit the section on Fondmetal Today READ MORE.