Car tyre production starts at Jiangsu General’s Thai and Wuxi plants
On 28 June, Jiangsu General held commissioning ceremonies for its Thailand and Wuxi car tyre plants, involving a total production capacity of 16 million semi-steel radial tyres.
On 28 June, Jiangsu General held commissioning ceremonies for its Thailand and Wuxi car tyre plants, involving a total production capacity of 16 million semi-steel radial tyres.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., is planning to invest 1,960 million yuan (roughly ¥36.7 billion; £212.8 million; 250.5 million euros; $269.7 million) in the construction of a new passenger car tyre factory to serve domestic Chinese demand. Production at the new plant is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2026. The new plant will be located in the Qiantang New District of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and will have an initial annual production capacity of 9 million tyres, with further expansion “to be considered in the future”.
Triangle Tyre Europe introduced EffeX SUV and EffeX Winter tyres at The Tire Cologne, products that build on the growing portfolio of latest-generation tyres that are designed to defy expectations in the marketplace. Tyres & Accessories spoke with European general manager, Corrado Moglia, and UK sales director, Steve Eke, and learnt more about how demand is outstripping supply, indeed the international business of the European business plays a strategic role in the overall Triangle global operation, which arguably punches above its weight in the global context.
Guizhou Tyre might not be the most familiar name in the business, but the Chinese tyre manufacturer – which is best known by its Advance and Samson brands – is working to change that with the establishment of a European organisation, TUV SUD testing its latest truck tyres, and there’s even talk of investment in a tyre factory outside China and car tyre production.
Tyres & Accessories features the tyre retail sector and ultra-high performance tyres in the June 2024 issue, available as an e-paper for subscribers to Tyrepress. The issue also features a special report on the Chinese tyre industry from Shandong Province, as Tyres & Accessories and Chinese language sister website Tyrepress China visit the 14th GuangRao Rubber Tire and Automotive Accessory Exhibition. Non-subscribers can gain access to Tyrepress with a print or online subscription. Tyre professionals can take advantage of the current Tyrepress Membership offer, helping to drive business online and stay informed with the industry’s leading magazine and websites.
Jiangsu General said the Thailand plant’s construction project (Phase II) has been modified. Specifically, the tyre manufacturer has increased the production capacity of semi-steel radial tyres at overseas bases and cancelled the plan to expand the production capacity of full-steel radial tyres.
Falken has launched its latest tyre, the Ziex ZE320, which incorporates sustainable rice husk silica in its manufacture. It replaces the existing Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun tyre and the new model promises to be even better and more environmentally friendly, says the company. The first twelve sizes of the new tyre are due to arrive in Europe in early summer 2024, with a further 48 sizes set to be added by spring 2025.
The UK new car market marked its 22nd consecutive month of growth as registrations rose 1.7 per cent in May, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). With 147,678 units reaching the road, it was the best May market performance since 2021, although it remains down some -19.6 per cent on 2019.
Visitors to The Tire Cologne 2024 encountered numerous upgrades and additions to both the Giti and GT Radial tyre brands. Members of the Giti Tire team shared details of these developments with us during the show.
Retail sales at the lower end of the UK’s ultra-high performance tyre segment have seen a trend away from premium tyres, with the third-tier Budget segment continuing to increase its share, according to the latest panelmarket data from market analyst GfK. In last year’s edition of our feature on the UHP Tyre segment, Tyres & Accessories noted that there are three long-term factors at play in causing the sector dynamics we are currently witnessing: OEMs’ continued move towards the specification of 17” and 18” tyres on mass market, sub-premium car models; macroeconomic conditions in the UK, which have led to increasingly expensive retail goods at the same time as soaring borrowing costs and extremely soft growth in both the economy and wages; and the expansion in availability of low-cost tyres from sub-Premium, sub-Mid Range tyre manufacturers.
Using its broadest possible definition as tyres with rim diameters of 17” or more, the ultra-high performance tyre segment is the only engine of growth within the replacement passenger car and light truck (PCLT) tyre segment in West and Central Europe, the latest data and projections from leading tyre business analyst Astutus Research demonstrates. Having withstood the Covid pandemic and accelerated out of 2021 far quicker than smaller rim diameter segments, the 18”-plus segment especially is going to help bolster what little growth there will be in the PCLT tyre market within the region, while also taking market share from smaller sizes. With the electrification of the car parc bringing EVs with generally higher rim sizes, in addition to existing trends towards larger tyres, such as the popularity of SUVs, demand for tyres in this size segment will rise rapidly over the next few years, Astutus’ projections show (see the graphs on these pages for more details).
Falken entered the European ultra-ultra-high-performance (UUHP) market in 2023 with the Azenis RS820. The new pattern is designed to offer responsive handling, balanced wet and dry grip and impressive feel on both road and track. Available in an initial 38 sizes between 19 and 21 inches and a Y speed index rated up to 300km/h, the Azenis RS820 is derived from Falken’s race-winning motorsport technologies and experience honed over 20 years’ competition on the Nürburgring. The tyre provides a fitment option to a range of high-performance cars and SUVs. Falken’s development teams in Europe and Japan collaborated to produce its first UUHP pattern for the region, on that has benefited from the company’s “From track to Tarmac” development philosophy, according to product manager Philipp Wolz.
The Egyptian government is supporting the development of local tyre manufacturing including the addition of car tyre production to Pyramids Tires, said prime minister Moustafa Madbouli during a recent visit to Pyramids Tires on 20 April 2024.
UK new car registrations grew for the 21st consecutive month in April, rising by a modest 1.0 per cent to reach 134,274 units, according to the latest data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). As a result, this was the market’s best April since 2021, although uptake was still -16.6 per cent below the pre-pandemic level in what is traditionally a low volume month following the March plate change.
More than half of UK fleets (54 per cent) are buying used cars for company use and a further quarter (24 per cent) plan to do so in the next three years, according to new research. The figures are taken from the 2024 Arval Mobility Observatory Fleet and Mobility Barometer, which questioned 8,605 businesses in 30 countries about their vehicle operations. The practice shows almost no variation across companies of different sizes among those surveyed, from companies with fewer than 10 employees through to those with more than 1,000.
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