Nankang Presents New Winter Tyres

For the last few years CITExpo has been a fixture in the Nankang Rubber Tire Corporation’s annual events calendar. And the tyre maker, one of Taiwan’s largest, does not head to Shanghai each year just to give the exhibition an international flavour – as Eric Shih, marketing and project manager for Nankang’s export department, explained to Tyres & Accessories, the CITExpo show offers a “good chance to do tyre business.” Hence Nankang is always pleased to return to the exhibition. Admittedly, the Taiwanese company didn’t have far to travel to reach CITExpo: Nankang has an office in Shanghai and since 2003 has operated a factory in nearby Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province.

A look at the company and its half century of history – Nankang was established in 1959 – reveals the development of a global player. A sizeable capacity expansion was facilitated through the construction of a second Taiwan factory in 1973, and six years ago the company made the leap into mainland China through the erection of a passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre factory there. Nankang exclusively manufactures consumer tyres in its three facilities, and the Chinese factory has already developed into an important production site for international exports. Today more than seven million tyres are produced in Zhangjiagang each year, and the vast majority of these are destined for markets outside of China, including Taiwan. According to Eric Shih, a mere ten per cent of Chinese production remains in the country and is marketed there.
 
That the factory is turning out tyres at full steam is of course good news for Nankang, yet an absence of reserve capacity makes the plant’s expansion in the near future a necessity, the marketing and project manager comments. Exact details of a capacity expansion have not yet been decided upon, however it is feasible that such plans could be linked to the company’s efforts to break into the Chinese original equipment market and may involve an upgrade of the factory’s technical department. Potentially in the long-term a second fully-fledged R&D centre may be established, Shih adds. At present all research and development is conducted in Taiwan.

The results of Nankang’s efforts were on display during CITExpo. During the three-day exhibition in early September the Taiwanese manufacturer introduced its new SV-2 winter tyre, initially available in 29 sizes between 13 and 18-inches and available in Europe for the upcoming cold season. The tyre’s V-shaped tread with four circumferential grooves is designed to provide markedly better drainage on wet roads, and the silica compound used is also intended to improve performance in wet conditions. Naturally the tyre is also free from aromatic oils, Shih points out.

Alongside the equally new “Nankang AS-1” asymmetric tread high performance tyre for medium size cars (available in sizes to fit 15 to 19-inch rims), the Taiwanese manufacturer presented its flagship “Nankang NS-20” tyre as a key product during CITExpo. The NS-20, which will be produced in both Taiwan and China, demonstrates that the Chinese manufacturing facility does not solely deal with smaller size tyres. The new UHP tyre was introduced at the start of this year and has been selling very well around the world, Shih notes. Currently more than 30 sizes, starting at 17-inches, are available in the NS-20 line-up.