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Pirelli Now Producing Full Line-up in China

Currently nine of the world’s 10 largest tyre manufacturers have their own production bases in China. Among those companies that have recently chosen to venture into China is Pirelli. The Italian corporation has been operating a truck tyre production facility in China since the summer of 2005 before opening a new PCR tyre factory very recently in November 2007. At this stage Pirelli is still a relatively small player in the Chinese tyre market, but it is this context that will enable the company to achieve an above average growth rate, says Luca Cico in an interview with Tyres & Accessories. now that it has managed to fulfil the demands of the Chinese tyre market with two production sites in operation.

8th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Goodyear Senior VP & Chief Technical Officer Named

At the end of 2007 Goodyear named its replacement for Joseph M. Gringo, who has retired from Goodyear after 41 years of service. As of January 1 Jean-Claude Kihn, formerly general director of Goodyear’s Technical Center (GTC*A) in Akron, Ohio, has taken on the role of senior vice president and chief technical officer.

“Jean-Claude has demonstrated excellent leadership throughout the time I have known him and worked with him,” said Goodyear chairman and chief executive officer Robert J. Keegan upon announcing the appointment. “He has gained the trust of our business leaders in Europe, Latin America and North America through his recent assignments in those businesses.

7th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Exports Increase, Imports Double in India

Despite the increasing strength of the rupee tyre manufacturers in India are still enjoying export growth, reports the Hindu Business Line. According to figures presented in the Indian business daily, exports increased by 19.2 per cent in the current financial year, with approximately 3.1 million units exported during the period. During the same months of the previous fiscal year total exports were in the vicinity of 2.6 million units.

“Exports in 2006-07 had shown a decline, as the demand in the domestic industry was healthy,” said Apollo Tyres COO and joint managing director Neeraj Kanwar. “With serving the domestic industry being a priority, exports seem to have slowed down. But now the industry has added capacity to increase its competitiveness, which would make the export growth come back to earlier levels. We expect exports to remain buoyant.”

6th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli to Continue its Forward Looking Strategy in China

Under the leadership of Dr Francesco Gori, Pirelli’s tyre division is accelerating the pursuit of its forward looking strategy. On November 27, 2007, Pirelli officially opened its new passenger car tyre factory in Yanzhou, Shandong province and presented the facility to the Chinese media. Tyres & Accessories and its German sister publication Neue Reifenzeitung were the only international tyre publications in attendance. In the first phase Pirelli will produce about 3 million passenger car tyres per year, ranging between 14 and 18 inches in diameter. In a fast second step, this capacity will be expanded up to 5 million units. The premises even allow for a future expansion of the production site up to a capacity of 10 million passenger car tyres. German manager, Michael Beck (44), has taken over the responsibility of the Pirelli factory. For him it is a pleasure to have had the chance to build a factory on a greenfield site with the benefit of an ideal flow of goods and materials.

With regards to equipment Pirelli’s new PC tyre factory is one of the most modern facilities the tyre manufacturer runs, MIRS factories aside. The output is intended for the Chinese tyre market, but also for South East Asia and Australia as well as Northern America where Pirelli urgently needs additional tyres. Three years ago Pirelli installed a truck tyre factory on the same site as the new PC tyre facility. This factory will soon reach its maximum capacity on schedule and then will add an annual output of 1 million large truck tyres, of which the majority will be tube type tyres. However, over the past months, Pirelli has produced more and more tube-less truck tyres in Yanzhou. Initially, Pirelli had planned to sell a major part of its truck tyre output in the whole of the South East Asian region. This plan was soon put aside in light of dramatically growing demand on the domestic Chinese truck tyre market. China already is the largest single truck tyre market in the world and is consuming Pirelli’s truck tyres fresh from the vulcanising presses.

The new passenger car tyre factory was built together with Pirelli’s truck tyre joint venture partner. Since the two partners started producing truck tyres in China three years ago, Pirelli has gained a majority share of 75 per cent of the joint venture holding company and it can be expected that with every single increase of capital Pirelli’s share in the company further grow.

On the occasion of the official opening of the new PC tyre factory, Pirelli’s chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera as well as Dr Francesco Gori, the CEO of Pirelli Tyre, representatives from the Chinese jointventure partner, delegates of the Shandong province as well as the Italian ambassador for China were present in Yanzhou. During the past three years Pirelli has invested more than $200 million into the site. It is very likely that this sum will be doubled within the next three years. The truck tyre factory currently employs about 1,000 people. The passenger car tyre factory will hire another 1,000 employees. Pirelli already has a well-established distribution network available in China which is expected to grow up to 1,000 point of sale by early next year. Two thirds of these dealers will be so-called mono-brand dealers.

Talking to Tyres & Accessories, Francesco Gori points out that tyres produced in the new PC tyre factory in China are not designated for sale on the European tyre markets. This comes as no surprise because just a few months ago Pirelli opened a passenger car tyre factory in Slatina, Romania. This facility has a similar size and is equally modern as the new tyre factory in China.

28th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Planning European Factory & Distribution Chain

Apollo Tyres’ plans to double its turnover to US$2 billion by 2010 involve expansion in Europe, and Neeraj Kanwar, the company’s joint managing director and COO, has revealed further details of Apollo’s intentions to this end. Comments made by the senior Apollo executive have been printed in the Indian business newspaper, Mint.

The tyremaker is aware of Europe’s value as a market, and is planning its entry into the market carefully. Neeraj Kanwar said that Apollo views Europe “eventually as a domestic market.” Therefore, the company’s involvement in the region is “taking time because we want to get the service infrastructure and the back-end (operations) ready.” A previous attempt at European distribution, in cooperation with Netherlands based wholesaler Euro-Tyre BV, saw only a limited quantity of Apollo Tyres products sold in Europe, and this working relationship has now ended.

21st November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Credential: Business As Usual Despite C-Tyres Worries

Leading tyre and motor trade waste product recycler Credential Environmental stressed this week that it was “business as usual” at its Durham site on the Langley Moor Industrial Estate. For some years, Newton Aycliffe based Credential has worked at the site alongside tyre re-moulder C-Tyres and carpet underlay manufacturer Interfloor, delivering thousands of used car tyres annually to both firms.

19th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

More than ‘Just’ Tyres

The name of the Chinese tyre manufacturer Aufine is derived from the English words ‘all fine’, and according to the company’s general manager, David Sun, business these days is more than just all fine at Aufine. When Tyres & Accessories spoke to Mr. Sun at September’s CITExpo exhibition in Shanghai he was brimming with confidence about the company’s future, in particular with regards to export sales of its products and, more specifically, exports to European markets.

“For many people from overseas that we’ve met here at CITExpo, Aufine is a new brand,” observed David Sun. “Although we’ve been manufacturing tyres in China for 20 years, Aufine has only been exporting for one.” Therefore the new exporter of tyres from China viewed CITExpo as an opportunity to make new friends, so to speak, and Mr. Sun confirmed that the company’s main reason for attending the exhibition in Shanghai, along with promoting the Aufine brand, was to seek new agents in strategic export markets. To this end the general manager was able to confirm without hesitation that Aufine had been very successful in its quest.

14th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Technology – What’s Next?

(Douglasdale, South Africa/SA Treads) People often ask me what drew me to the tyre business. Why, the dynamism, creativity and sophistication of the industry, I promptly reply. At that, I’m usually met by blank stares and looks of incredulity, as if the notion of designing and making a tyre is akin to watching grass grow. But they can be forgiven for their misplaced scepticism as they’re likely unaware of the research, development and design genius that takes place long before a tyre leaves the production line. Modern tyre technology is not only sophisticated, it’s setting new, previously inconceivable benchmarks. So where is tyre technology headed and what will the tyre of the future look like? We ask those in the know.

When it comes to strategic focus and future developments, every global tyre maker has its own agenda, but our investigations revealed a number of common buzz words around this issue, primarily, interactive, green and fuel-efficient. Evidently, these are the main trends driving tyre technology today.

12th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Reports Strong Q3 Sales Growth

Nokian Tyres has reported a 27.9 per cent increase in third quarter net sales, having earned a total of 236 million euros during the three-month period. This gives the company a year to date net sales increase of 25.2 per cent, up from 533.9 million to 668.9 million euros. Operating profit for the quarter was 51.6 million euros, a 39.5 per cent increase on the same period last year. For the nine months of 2007 operating profit is recorded as 140.8 million euros, a sizeable 64.5 per cent rise from last year’s January to September operating profit of 85.6 million euros. Quarterly net profit was 37.4 million euros, a 36 per cent increase on the July-September 2006 profit of 27.5 million euros, and net profit for the nine-month period stands at 107.5 million euros, 81.2 per cent higher than during the same period last year.

Nokian Tyres’ president and CEO Kim Gran commented “the third quarter, in line with the earlier part of the year, was a success for Nokian Tyres. Net sales grew in all profit centres, and the operating profit improved from the previous year both during the third quarter and the period January-September. Sales grew in all key markets, particularly in Russia.

2nd November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Starco Group Bound for Growth in Asia

Known in Europe as the market leader for small tyres, Denmark’s Starco group is currently taking steps to also secure a foothold in Asia. One such step, for example, is Starco’s first time presence at this year’s Tyrexpo Asia, explained Brian Lorentzen. Evidence that the Danish company is pursuing a strong growth strategy can be seen from even a brief look at the company’s annual reports and the development of Starco’s turnover. For example, last year Starco generated a turnover of US$100 million, this year the figure will very likely be 100 million euros. This means that the leading company in the European market for small tyres will experience about 30 per cent growth within just 12 months. Over the last ten years the Starco group has even achieved an increase in its annual turnover by a factor of ten.

31st October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Retreaders Work on Their Contacts in Singapore

Tyrexpo Asia is not only a very interesting show for wholesalers, dealers and manufacturers of new tyres. In parallel with the increasing “Westernisation” of many markets in the region, suppliers of treads and tread rubber as well as equipment for the retreading business play an increasingly important role for Tyrexpo Asia, and this has not only been the case for this year’s show. Despite this, it has to be admitted that in previous years more companies from the retreading industry were present during the Singapore show, such as, for example, Goodway from Malaysia or Vipal from Brazil. So, this year’s exhibition appeared to lack some important market players. However, many others, including several companies from Europe and Northern America came or returned to exhibit at Tyrexpo Asia and thus benefited from it.

29th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti to Invest 150 million Euros in China Tyre Plant

Continental AG is to substantially expand its presence in China through the establishment of a new tyre manufacturing facility in the city of Hefei, Anhui province. Conti will invest a total of about 150 million euros into the project, and construction is scheduled to get underway in mid 2008. A date of early 2010 has been put forward for the start of tyre production. An appropriate investment plan for the project was agreed upon on October 28 and the company is currently in the process of obtaining the required permits from China’s central government.

“With this move, we are entering one of the world’s most dynamic tyre markets, following careful analysis and intensive preparation,” stressed Continental Executive Board chairman Manfred Wennemer in Hanover on October 28. “In addition to Automotive Systems and ContiTech the Passenger and Light Truck Tires division will thus have a production location in China and profit from the continuing positive development.”

29th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyrexpo Asia: Wholesalers Keep a Strong Presence

It appears that Tyrexpo Asia – like other leading international tyre shows – represents a must-do for wholesalers from Europe. At a minimum members of these companies’ top management come to Tyrexpo Asia as visitors, but many companies each year book floor space in the Singapore Expo Centre for Tyrexpo Asia. Counted amongst the latter is the commercial tyre specialist Heuver Banden from the Netherlands, which displayed its products together with the manufacturer of the new “Maitech“ OTR tyre brand. The distribution rights of this brand have been granted to Heuver Banden for major parts of Europe by Uzmai International from Verona, Italy – however, the tyres are produced in Turkey, as Oskar Snijders, director wholesale with the Dutch distributor, explained.

26th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Announces New OE Contracts with Audi, Chrysler

Yokohama Rubber has announced that the latest addition to its high performance Advan Winter tyre range, the V902, has been approved by Audi as OE winter tyre for the S6 and Audi S8. Tyre sizes to be fitted are 265/35R19 98V XL for the S6 and 265/35R20 99V XL for the S8. Both sizes are for front and rear. The S6 and S8 are the first Audis to come equipped with Yokohama winter tyres, and will be factory-fitted options for the German market and available to order through Audi dealerships in other countries.

Yokohama states it is proud to have met the high technical standards required in the development process it has undergone with Audi AG, and comments that the Advan Winter range perfectly balances high-speed stability, comfort, handling and braking in wet and dry conditions, as well as showing good traction and braking on snowy and icy surfaces. Since 2004, “Advan Sport” summer tyres have been homologated by some of the world’s leading car manufacturers, including the Audi S8, the Bentley Continental series, Mercedes-AMG models and the Porsche 911 and Cayenne.

24th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyrexpo Asia Continues to Grow Despite Clash of Dates

The sixth Tyrexpo Asia, held in Singapore in September, left no hint of a doubt as to the importance of the regional tyre market and of the show itself in comparison with other regions and events. The organisers of the biannual Tyrexpo Asia, the UK’s ECI International, have again been proud to present the show’s final figures, which show an exhibitor increase of about 30 per cent compared to the 2005 show: this year 125 companies from 25 different countries booked floor space in the Singapore Expo Center. In terms of booked floor space this year’s show has developed equally well: about 6,500 m² was covered which, representing a growth of 25 per cent. However, this success is not completely untarnished as the number of visitors might be expected to have grown on par – something that would been justified by the quality of exhibitors – if there had not been a clash of dates with the CITExpo tyre show in Shanghai, China. At the end ECI International reported a growth of nine per cent up to 3,219 registered visitors from 88 different countries.

22nd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors