China Archives - Page 203 of 240 - Tyrepress

Now one of the largest tyre-producing countries in the world, China has an indisputable influence on the direction of global tyre trade. The home of both fast-growing up-and-coming brands as well as a burgeoning domestic market, this tag chronicles China’s involvement with the tyre business.

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Tyrepress Asia – News with an Asian Emphasis

Tyrepress Asia, sister publication to Tyres & Accessories and NEUE REIFENZEITUNG, is very pleased to announce the launch of its new website Tyrepress Asia and associated e-Newsletter. Based upon the successful format established by Tyres & Accessories and Neue Reifenzeitung’s UK and European e-Newsletters, the Tyrepress Asia e-Newsletter is specifically tailored to provide news and articles from our online publication that are of particular relevance to the Asia and Pacific regions. Our regular newsletter is the only English language tyre industry news source to exclusively cover news and developments from Russia and China down to Australia and New Zealand and from India across the Pacific Rim, and its online format ensures our reports will reach their intended audience while still fresh and newsworthy.

Each year a greater proportion of the world tyre parc is produced in Asia, and companies within the region are increasingly looking to become established global brands. This is a time of rapid growth within the region’s tyre industry and an exciting time to be involved in the business. Therefore it is essential to remain informed of decisions made by both today and tomorrow’s leading players in Asia.

For a limited time Tyrepress Asia is offering free subscriptions to their e-Newsletter and newly launched website Tyrepress Asia– a website where tyre professionals from around the globe can obtain unrestricted access to the latest information coming from Asia’s tyre industry and markets. Produced by experienced industry journalists, the website contains news, feature articles and downloads designed to keep the reader informed. If you conduct business in the Asia and Pacific regions, or simply have an interest in keeping informed about developments in these and coming markets, then Tyrepress Asia invites you to visit our website or click here to obtain your free subscription.

4th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Private Brands and More

Five short years after its inception, Shanghai Durotyre International, whose main business is the contract manufacture of private brands, has offices in China, the UK, South Africa, Lebanon and the USA. At this year’s Brityrex the company will be promoting its private brands Pace, Duration and Agrostar.

Pace, manufactured by Cooper Chengshan, is available in over 100 passenger car and truck sizes. Further UHP and SUV additions to the range will be introduced later in the year, with a winter range also planned for 2008. Duration is an extensive bias OTR range, and in the near future production of radials will commence, with 2700R49, 3300R51, 3600R51, 3700R57 and 4000R57 sizes available. Agrostar is a comprehensive range of mainly agricultural tyres.

2nd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin to Increase China Investment – Update

As previously reported, a government official in China has released information indicating Michelin intends to spend US$300 million expanding its tyre production facilities in China. The company has signed a memorandum with officials from the Liaonong (northeast China) provincial government related to new truck and passenger car tyre projects.

When the two projects are implemented, the company’s existing base in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning, will become the world’s largest tyre production base, producing 12 billion tyres per year.

Michelin has already invested US$150 in its Shenyang plant, and the additional $300 million will be used to fund two new projects, which will cover a floor area of 300,000 square metres.

2nd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Elite Direct.Com Limited – Providing a Better Customer Experience

Elite has gone out of its to make the purchasing of wheels a pleasant experience. At its conveniently located 20,000 sq. ft premises on the A1306 near Rainham and Dagenham in Essex, the company not only has a large and well-appointed showroom open to the public, but also a waiting area complete with a café serving hot food and drinks – so waiting for a new set of wheels need not be a tedious event. And while the customer enjoys some refreshment their vehicle is seen to in one of Elite’s 19 fully operational service bays.

The large and modern facility Elite operates today is far removed from the company’s humble beginnings, when partners Steve Eldridge and Sean Soyka opened for business in 1987, operating out of a cramped former car showroom in Hornchurch, just a couple of miles from the company’s present position. Today the company specialises in wheels and tyres for passenger cars, 4×4 vehicles and light commercials, but also stocks exhausts, shock absorbers, suspension kits, and brakes amongst other items.

30th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin to Spend US$300 million in China

Michelin is reportedly preparing to spend US$300 million expanding its tyre production facilities in China. The French tyremaker has signed agreements with officials from the Liaonong (northeast China) provincial government related to new truck and passenger car tyre projects.

When the two projects are implemented, the company’s existing base in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning, will become the world’s largest tyre production base.

30th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Q4 Tough for Indian Tyremakers

Indian tyre manufacturers are expected to experience a difficult quarter in Q4 2007, the Business Standard has reported. According to the report “spot rubber prices in this quarter till date have averaged 95 rupees per kg levels as compared to an average price of 78.4 rupees per kg in same period last year.” Higher rubber prices this year are attributed to unfavourable weather conditions in key South East Asian producing countries, coupled with buoyant demand conditions from China, say analysts. As a result tyre stocks are said to have under-performed since the beginning of the quarter. Apollo Tyres is said to have 25 per cent during this period compared to a 7.6 per cent fall in the Sensex exchange. MRF also declined 24 per cent during this period.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

European Double Coin Sales Up

European Double Coin sales have increased “significantly” since Dutch wholesaler Inter-Sprint took over distribution in May 2006, the company has reported. Since then the European distribution channel has also enlarged to include: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czech, Sweden, Finland, Estonia. Inter Sprint reports that it is also looking for distributors in the former Eastern Europe.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Rubber Association Seeks Lower Import Tax

On 22 March the China Rubber Industry Association proposed a cut in import taxes for natural rubber and a build-up in strategic reserves as a way of protecting the sector from price swings. Chairman Ju Hongzhen told Reuters it wanted import tariffs below 12 per cent as higher rubber prices were squeezing margins at tyre makers. Importers of natural rubber now have to pay either a 20 per cent import tax or a flat tax of 2,600 yuan a tonne.

23rd March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Rubber Supply Tight for Five More Years

The International Rubber Study Group has warned that supplies of natural rubber will remain constrained until at least 2012 as current levels of production are not keeping pace with rising demand from China and India. The group’s secretary-general, Hidde Smit, even warned that output in Malaysia, the world’s third largest rubber producer, is expected to fall below 1 million metric tonnes by 2020 from its current annual level of 1.2 million tonnes due to farmers cutting down rubber trees and replacing them with oil palms.

The price of natural rubber has more than doubled since 2002, prompting farmers in Thailand and Vietnam, the world’s largest and fifth-largest producers, to plant more trees,. These will take about five years to reach commercial production. “It’s been a very tight market that we’ve been experiencing since 2002,” Smit said. He added that this situation would continue until about 2012, when current new planting in other countries enter production.

22nd March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Misses Mark in China Sales

(Akron/Tire Review) Continental AG fell short of its stated 2006 sales goal in China, posting 230 million euro in sales, according to China Business News. Conti had established a goal of 350 million to 400 million euro in sales of its automotive systems products.

The sales figures do not reflect products made in China and exported, the report said.

Conti has a 50/50 joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., and has announced plans to build two technology centres in China this year.

21st March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli – China is “Pivotal”

In addition to its commitment to the FIA-GT Championship, which kicks off for 2007 at the Zhuhai circuit in Guangdong Province on March 23, Pirelli Competizioni will also take a leading role in an up and coming race series, the Asia SuperCar Challenge (ASCC), a series for GT cars in South-East Asia. Pirelli has entered into an agreement to be the exclusive tyre supplier for all 10 scheduled races held between March and September.

The Italian tyremaker views the agreement signed between Pirelli Competizioni and series organisers, the SuperCar Club Hong Kong Ltd, as confirmation of Pirelli’s focus upon China – including on the sporting front – and the company’s efforts to become firmly established as more than just another international tyremaker operating in China. Therefore, Pirelli point out that the presence of PZero Racing tyres in the ASCC series should not be seen as a surprise development, but as a product of the company’s ongoing support for an extremely interesting, immense and competitive market, one in which Pirelli Tyre SpA has been active for two years and is experiencing healthy growth, thanks in part to the company’s newly established facilities for the production of car and truck tyres.

21st March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Topy to Close Aluminium Wheel Plant

Japanese wheel manufacturer Topy Corporation recently announced it would close its aluminium wheel production operations in the US state of Kentucky by the end of September. Approximately 250 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure, with some jobs going to other plants, both in the US and Mexico. The company’s steel wheel manufacturing division and the 350 workers it employs at the Frankfort, Kentucky facility will not be affected by this closure.

According to company director Tom Trzazkus, there is no chance for the 250 jobs to remain. He said the closure is an exit strategy for the unprofitable aluminium plant division, and that high manufacturing costs in comparison with competitors, especially those with production facilities in China, was the main cause for the decision to close the division.

20th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

2006 a Trademark Year for Shanghai Tyre & Rubber

Shanghai Tyre & Rubber Co. has been singled out as a company to watch amongst China’s many tyremakers by recently released statistical data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which indicates that the company is listed amongst the top filers in the world’s developing economies wishing to protect their intellectual property. Specific details regarding the number of trademark applications submitted by Shanghai Tyre & Rubber have not been released.

16th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Interview with Kumho’s Dave Hudrlik

(Akron/Tire Review) Dave Hudrlik is vice president of sales for Kumho Tire USA Inc. During the recent Kumho Dealer Meeting, he sat down for an interview with David Moniz, publisher of Tyres & Accessories’ American partner magazine Tire Review.

In the past, Kumho has expressed interest in Formula One racing. Is that still of interest?

“Sure, but that is a lofty goal. We have a desire to go to Mars, and one day we might get there. We have done the development work and we have created a tyre, but there are many other things that go into Formula One. You have to have a lot of infrastructure to support it, not the least of which is brand. So, once the brand gets to a certain level, you can support it. The cost of actually participating in Formula One is huge. So, it’s a work in progress.”

In terms of your fill rate, which you said was around 62%, you want to bring it back up to 97%. And during the meeting you mentioned Kumho is building additional plants in China and Vietnam, and projected how they probably help improve fill rates. What is the timeframe for all of these plants to come on-stream?

14th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sunny Days

(Akron/Tire Review) Mexico and Kumho Tire U.S.A. have become rather synonymous. For the past several years, the tyremaker has chosen Cancun or Puerto Vallarta as destinations of choice for its annual dealer meeting. This year’s meeting, held Jan. 5-9 in Cancun, was another successful event at a pleasant resort setting.

This time, Kumho added a minor twist to the festivities: dealers got to meet the newly installed CEO and president of Kumho Tire North America B.K. Kim. Don Hun Ham, recently named president of Kumho Tire U.S.A., was unable to attend.

Also on hand were Dave Hudrlik, vice president of sales and marketing; Mike Leverington, director of marketing; Kelvin Oh, general manager and sales coordinator; and Rick Brennan, brand director, all of whom spoke to dealers about the company’s 2006 accomplishments and its plans for 2007.

Parent company Kumho Tire Co. is currently ranked 10th among tyre manufacturers worldwide, with revenue of $1.6 billion in 2006. In the U.S. alone, Kumho has gone from just under $100 million in sales in 1997 to $465 million in revenue in 2006 and is aiming for what it feels is a reachable target of $610 million for 2007. In terms of tyres, Kumho hopes to reach 9.3 million units in the U.S. for 2007, according to the management team.

14th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors