Asia
Online tyre business is the future, according to Delticom CEO Rainer Binder. With more people buying tyres online than ever, it might not take a futurist or e-business whizz to make such a predction, but in this recent interview with T&A Binder share more about Delticom's approach and new European, fleet and global business strategies.
Just over two weeks after reports surfaced that the UK government was targeting automotive suppliers for British manufacturing investment, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced plans to build a new £350 million engine plant in Wolverhampton. According to reports, the new factory will create around 750 skilled jobs to serve demand from Asia.
Chinese tyre manufacturer Sailun is planning to invest over US$100 million in a Vietnam subsidiary, according to online media reports. Yicai.com quoted an official filing as saying the auxiliary company will produce “tyres and other rubber products.”
When this year’s Reifen China kicks off in November (22–24) alongside the RubberTech China event, the show’s organisers are expecting record attendance. After strong growth last year, this year’s event could see as many as 10,000 visitors pass through the doors of the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) during the course of the exhibition, meaning the event is becoming a regular meeting place for those in sourcing from or selling to the Chinese tyre industry. When you consider that SNIEC’s modern infrastructure has nine halls with a total of 103,500 square metres of exhibition area as well as another 100,000 square metres of outdoor space, it is clear to see that there is plenty of room for growth.
Based just North of York in Pocklington, the relatively small size of this North Yorkshire town belies the current scale and influence of the tyre wholesale operation it is home to. Bond International was founded in 1966 by Reg Bond when the qualified automotive engineer suffered an industrial injury that blinded him in one eye. In spite of the incident, Bond demonstrated great vision by investing his ensuing compensation into expanding his business to incorporate tyre wholesale. Now the company is firmly in the top flight of UK tyre wholesale operations and has purportedly risen as high as number three in recent years (see next month's Wholesale Feature for an update on the current state of UK tyre wholesaling). With an overseas office already located in Singapore, now Bond is considering its European options, while pointing out that there are still opportunities in the UK. On top of this the company recently launched its first foray into the online marketplace, which executive hope will – over time – develop a whole new source of business for it and its retail customers alike.
The Schaeffler Group says its first six months in 2011 have “set new records in sales and operating results”. The company has grown its net income to 641 million euros in the period, with EBIT rising 20 per cent to 883 million euros and margin at 16.4 per cent. The company expects sales to increase by “at least 10 per cent” and has an EBIT margin target of “more than 13 per cent” for the year. Schaeffler’s sales in the first six months rose by 18 per cent to approximately 5.4 billion euros.
The Pelmar Group has announced that Armond Boyes, managing director of its North American subsidiary, Pelmar USA LLC is to retire on 1 November 2011. Armond Boyes joined the Pelmar Group in 2008 from his previous position as general manger for retreading at Goodyear North America. He will continue as a consultant and will remain on the company's board of directors. No decision has yet been made about who will replace Boyes, but the company reports that it is considering a number of candidates.
The global Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) market could be worth around US$3 billion according to a report published by Global Industry Analysts (GIA).
Following Continental’s recent acquisition of India’s Modi Tyres Company Limited, the German company has announced plans to expand its Indian market operations. Initial plans involve increasing Continental India Limited’s cross-ply truck and bus tyre production at its Modipuram factory to over 500,000 units per annum this year and further boosting output to more than a million units in 2013. On top of this, more than 50 million euros will be invested to equip the company for passenger car and commercial vehicle radial manufacture; Continental anticipates starting production of these tyres in the second half of 2013.
Yokohama Rubber has continued its Forever Forest tree planting programme with a first-phase planting ceremony at its Y.T. Rubber natural rubber processing factory in Thailand’s Surat Thani Province. Some 400 people were present for the occasion on August 6, including Y. T. Rubber president Yoshio Amano, company employees plus local residents and school pupils. Around 1,900 trees of 27 varieties were planted.
Kenda’s new passenger car tyre factory, built alongside its existing Yun-Lin plant in Taiwan, has now entered operation. The new plant is said to have a daily capacity of 5,000 tyres per day and according to the Taiwan Economic News it will contribute towards a gradual rise in Kenda’s daily output in Taiwan in China; it says output will begin increasing in the third quarter of 2011 and should reach 30,000 tyres per day by the end of the year – an increase of 50 per cent over current capacity. Most output from the new factory will be shipped to Europe and the US and is expected to contribute an additional NT$1.8 billion (£37 million) to annual revenues.
Although the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year caused original equipment tyre sales to decline there, mid-2011 financial quarter results show aftermarket sector sales are continuing to improve, building on signs of recovering demand first seen – as figures recently published by the Japanese Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association show – in 2010. The association’s report, titled “Tyre Industry of Japan 2011”, reveals growth occurred in both the original equipment and aftermarket segments last year, the first time production in Japan has increased in the last three years.
Despite the fact that their homeland suffered the combined catastrophe of earthquake and tsunami earlier this year Japanese tyre makers faired surprisingly well at the stock exchange in August at a time when the share prices of virtually all the other tyre majors took a beating. (See “Bloodbath at the stock exchange”).
The Bosch Group’s Automotive Aftermarket division is set to acquire the Unipoint Group and its affiliated Unipoint and NSA brands for an undisclosed sum. An agreement confirming the deal between Bosch and the Unipoint Group, which produces starters, alternators, temperature control parts and wiper blades for the aftermarket, was signed on August 9.
Sri Lanka listed Kelani Tyres, which runs a joint venture tyre business in cooperation with CEAT of India, has released financial results for the quarter to June 2011 showing that profits fell 71 per cent to 18.9 million rupees compared with a year earlier. The firm reported earnings of 24 cents per share for the quarter, in provisional accounts filed with Colombo Stock Exchange.
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