The History of Charter Automotive

Charter Automotive, a member of the Charter Manufacturing family of companies, was created when Milwaukee Wire Products acquired Valve Train Components in February of 2007. Together, we are a leading global supplier of automotive components with a broad range of manufacturing capabilities and product offerings. To best support our customers, we have several manufacturing, commercial and technical facilities located throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

In 2008, Charter Automotive made further advancements toward supporting our customer's global requirements when we opened a warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facility in Wuhu, China.  This facility is designed to support the rapid expansion of the Chinese auto industry and support the growing needs of our global customer base.

Going forward, Charter Automotive remains committed to continued global expansions with a focus on increased product offerings, enhanced manufacturing capabilities, and advanced technical support.

The History of Milwaukee Wire Products

In 1948, at the request of Chrysler Corporation, the Mellowes family established Milwaukee Wire Products to manufacture dipsticks for the combustion engine and powertrain industries. Since then, Milwaukee Wire Products have continued to grow by offering their range of products to the global automotive industry.

The company's first 50 years were focused on expanding its product offerings in support of the North American automotive industry. They quickly added transaxle retaining rings and valve keys to their product portfolio before adding valve spring retainers in 1989. In 2005, the company acquired the assets of ProTube Design Limited simultaneously expanding their guide manufacturing capability and allowed for exploration of other high volume automotive tube applications. In addition, the company could now offer a fully integrated fluid measurement system by offering a combined indicator and tube.

The company began turning its attention to the global automotive industry when Milwaukee Wire Products European Office was opened near Frankfurt, Germany in 2005 to begin providing local support to the European markets. In 2007, this support was quickly followed with a local manufacturing presence as Milwaukee Wire Products acquired Valve Train Components (VTC) of Lichfied, England. The acquisition of VTC represented an important step in the company's international growth strategy, enabling Milwaukee Wire to accelerate its growth in Europe by offering valve key and valve spring retainer systems, and ultimately their entire range of products, to a large group of customers not currently supplied by Milwaukee Wire.

The History of Valve Train Components

Valve Train Components (VTC) began as part of a larger presswork group, but was established as an independent company in 1994. Since then, VTC has focused on the supply of high quality, cost effective components to the automotive industry.

VTC occupies a modern manufacturing facility close to the West Midlands, strategically situated at the very heart of the UK automotive manufacturing region. From this facility, the manufacture and supply of valve keys formed the basis of the original core business, focusing on single, center and multi bead designs produced on a wide range of high tech forming and grinding equipment.

In 2002, the business expanded and diversified with the introduction of synchromesh sliding keys which quickly became an important addition to our product portfolio. Developed for the transmission system, these components helped to enhance VTC's reputation for supplying technically innovative products.

By 2007, the business had experienced continued growth and supplied in excess of 300 million components to a wide range of blue chip customers when VTC was acquired by Milwaukee Wire Products. The acquisition represented an important step in the company's growth strategy by creating a more diverse product portfolio of complimentary products. The acquisition opened new opportunities, provided access to new customers and new markets, and expanded our ability to service the global market. As a first tier supplier to many of the world's largest car manufacturers, we are truly a global supplier.