Nature of Operations

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Nature of Operations

Note 1 – Nature of Operations

The principal business of Superior Industries International, Inc. (referred to herein as the “company” or “we,” “us” and “our”) is the design and manufacture of aluminum wheels for sale to original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and aftermarket customers. We are one of the largest suppliers of cast aluminum wheels to the world’s leading automobile and light truck manufacturers, with manufacturing operations in the United States, Mexico, Germany and Poland. Our OEM aluminum wheels are sold primarily for factory installation, as either standard equipment or optional equipment, on vehicle models manufactured by Audi, BMW, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (“FCA”), Ford, General Motors (“GM”), Jaguar-Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. We sell aluminum wheels to the European aftermarket under the brands ATS, RIAL, ALUTEC and ANZIO. North America and Europe represent the principal markets for our products, but we have a global presence and influence with North American, European and Asian OEMs. With the acquisition of Uniwheels AG (“Uniwheels” or our “European operations”), on May 30, 2017, we diversified our customer base from predominately North American OEMs (e.g. Ford and G.M.) to a global customer base of OEMs (e.g. Audi and Mercedes-Benz). As a result of the acquisition, we have determined that our North American and European business should be treated as separate reportable segments as further described in Note 7, “Business Segments.”