Cooper Sales up 40% in China

During the first half of the year Chinese market sales of Cooper Tire & Rubber’s passenger car tyres increased 40 per cent, beating the company’s own 34 per cent target. Truck and bus tyre sales, which account for 65 per cent of Cooper’s China business, grew by double digits in the first half.

Cooper generated more than a fifth of its revenue in China, where it operates two facilities. Chairman and chief executive Roy Armes expects China sales, including domestic sales and exports, to reach US$1 billion or 25 per cent of global sales within three to five years. Armes added that a proposal to impose tariffs of up to 55 per cent on Chinese tyre imports could be positive for the US tyre industry in the short term but would hurt Cooper’s investments in China as some of its products are shipped to its home turf.

When asked about the trade dispute, Armes said: “We realise that we have to compete on a global basis. To have free fair trade allows the markets to grow and to be successful.”