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.
REIFEN Essen, arguably the world’s leading tyre industry fair, is heading for China. Between November 14 and 16, 2007, the first Reifen China, 1st Asian Essen Tire Show, will open its doors to the international trade public. Held at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center, the project is a joint venture between Messe Essen GmbH and the Chinese company China United Rubber (Group) Company (CURC).
Hayes Lemmerz International Inc plans to transform its technical alliance for the licenced manufacture of passenger car steel wheels in Russia into a formal joint venture over the next couple of years.
With the Chinese and Indian tyre industries proving to be the most rapidly transforming, the Asian region is one that has the attention of industry players and observers worldwide. According to 2005 statistics these two countries account for almost 30 per cent of the natural rubber produced globally each year, with much of this rubber ending up in tyre production.
The 2007 MotoGP season starts on March 10th with the Grand Prix in Qatar. This year’s calendar has 18 races, one more than 2006. Between Qatar and Valencia on 4 November, the teams will have raced in Turkey, China, USA, Japan, Malaysia and Australia as well as throughout Europe.
In a move that will no doubt further unsettle Indian manufacturers already concerned about tightening margins, one of the country’s major vehicle manufacturers has decided to fit its buses and multi-axle trucks with radial tyres sourced from China.
The exclusive distributor of Marshal tyres in the UAE and Iran, Varga Trading co. LLC has announced that it will be providing a 4-year warranty. “Most people in this region are shocked to hear that our tyres have such a long-term warranty, our tyres are of the highest quality and we are convinced that they can out-perform many of the very expensive brands. The stated four-year warranty is a message of confidence to end-users about the quality of Marshal tyres and a message to our dealers that we are committed to providing them with superb after sales services,” said Varga’s VP, Alireza Moaref.
(Akron/Tire Review) Despite seeing positive returns from its new operations in China, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. still posted a large loss for fiscal year 2006. The company reported full-year sales of $2.7 billion, up 24% from the year prior, but a net loss of $79 million, compared to a 2005 net loss of just $9 million.
Pirelli Tyre’s IPO last summer completely failed when the parent company was required to sell about 39 per cent of its tyre division Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. to a group of corporate investors from the banking sector rather than to private shareholders. And it will soon be seen whether these moves have actually more than merely temporarily quenched the parent company’s thirst for money. It appears that the tyre maker’s parent company, Pirelli & C. S.p.A., continues to have problems. Its shareholding in Telecom Italia has always been troublesome and was (and is still) obviously not fulfilling high expectations. Only recently more and higher depreciations had to be integrated into Pirelli’s balance sheet because the stock price of Telecom Italia proved unable to recover. In glaring contrast, however, is Pirelli’s tyre business.
Apollo Tyres is considering sourcing OTR tyres from its acquired South African production facilities in order to meet increased demand from the construction and mining sectors. These tyres will most likely come from the 252,000 sq ft Dunlop plant in Durban, which Apollo acquired in April 2006 along with another facility in South Africa and two in Zimbabwe. Ten thousand tyres are produced every day at the Durban site.
Indian tyre major MRF has signed up popular Indian driver Gaurav Gill to compete in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) for a full season this year. Addressing a press conference to announce MRF drivers for the championship, K M Mammen, MRF’s chairman and managing director, said “this is the first time that an Indian will be vying for honours in the event by competing in six of the seven legs. Gaurav (Gill) is also the first Indian to register with the FIA for the APRC Series.”
American tyre plant employees at factories struggling to remain globally competitive are finding themselves back in the classroom. The Bridgestone Firestone tyre facility in Wilson, North Carolina is requiring potential and some existing employees to participate in “Introduction to Tire Manufacturing” classes at a nearby technical college.
Hankook Tire Co., South Korea’s largest tiremaker, announced on February 23 its intention to spend 235 billion won (£130 million) building a new South Korean factory. The new tyre plant will be located at Geumsan, 198 kilometres south of Seoul, where the company has an existing plant with an annual capacity of 15 million units.
At present Hankook operates four tyre manufacturing facilities, two in South Korea and two in China. A fifth factory in Hungary is scheduled to enter production this spring.
With Brityrex International 2007 only a matter of weeks away, the show continues to attract exhibitors from a wide range of tyre and aftermarket sectors. Says Paul Farrant, managing director of the organisers ECI International: “When we began marketing the show, we deliberately targeted other aftermarket sectors as well as the tyre industry with a dedicated marketing and PR campaign. The result is a broader than ever exhibitor base, reflecting the wider range of services on offer today from garages and fast-fits as they concentrate on customer retention.”
(Akron/Tire Review – Korean Times) South Korea’s two tyre giants, Hankook and Kumho, are leaving huge marks on China’s roads.
Hankook, Korea’s leading tyremaker, has been a dominant player since 2003 in China. Its market share reached 25% last year. That means that one out of every four saloons in the world’s fastest growing economy run on Hankook tyres.
CEAT Ltd. has wrested the rights to become the official OE Supplier for Global Automobiles PVT Ltd. In keeping with the requirements of the Indian Market, Global Automobiles PVT Ltd plans to enter the market with three variants of their two-wheeler product, that is, 100cc, 125cc, 150cc motorcycles.
A joint venture to set up this two-wheeler project at Chinsura in Hooghly district was signed between the city-based Global Automobiles Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Xenitis Group and Guangzhou Motors Company of China in November 2005.
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