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.
Sailun’s Vietnam factory, its first manufacturing facility outside China, is now fully online having opened officially opened on 30 November. The factory is currently expected to supply 7.8 million tyres annually to the Middle East, South East Asia and South America, employing 850 people.
Maxam Tire is to exhibit a selection of its OTR radial and construction tyres at the upcoming CONEXPO exhibition, held in Las Vegas from 4-8 March 2014. CONEXPO proves that there is more to Las Vegas than gambling, as the show is one of the major events in the construction sector, with 2,400 exhibitors and […]
Net sales, operating income and net income at Yokohama Rubber rose to record levels during the 2013 financial year, the company reports. It says this performance mainly reflected a tyre business recovery in North America and China along with strong winter tyre sales in the Japanese market. Net income increased 7.3 per cent over the previous year to ¥35.0 billion (£206.0 million), on a 14.0 per cent increase in operating income, to ¥56.6 billion (£333.1 million) and a 7.5 per cent increase in net sales, to ¥601.6 billion (£3.5 billion).
Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems (BMTS) has founded a wholly owned subsidiary in the People’s Republic of China. The company will be called Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and the HQ is currently being built on the Mahle premises at the Shanghai location. In a first stage it will mainly produce turbochargers for petrol engines destined for the Chinese market in a new building covering 5,000 square metres.
Continental has concluded an agreement with equity firm The Carlyle Group to purchase Veyance Technologies Inc for roughly 1.4 billion euros. Veyance operates globally in the field of rubber and plastics technology and in 2013 recorded sales of approximately 1.5 billion Euro, around 90 per cent of which were achieved outside the automotive industry. Veyance has 27 plants around the world and a workforce of about 9,000 employees at the end of 2013. The Carlyle Group announced it had bought what was formerly Goodyear’s Engineered Products division for US$1.475 billion on 23 March 2007.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres will exhibit its new radial tyres for regional aircraft including the Embraer E-Jet and ATR72 at the Singapore Airshow next week. The company says its products have become more popular with aircraft operators throughout Asia Pacific since it opened a new tyre distribution and retreading facility in China at the end of 2009. It is now looking to increase its market share with new radial tyres that are a lighter weight and that can offer operators improved landing life.
Recent tax reassessments have given the Nokian Tyres Group a negative bottom line in the fourth quarter of 2013. The Finnish tyre maker’s pre-tax profit of €57.7 million (already down 44.6 per cent year-on-year) was dragged down to €-36.4 million by the additional €100.3 million in taxes and interest that Finland’s Tax Administration requires Nokian to pay for the 2007 to 2010 financial years.
It appears to be a case of once bitten, twice shy for Apollo Tyres. Following its experience with Cooper Tire & Rubber, and particularly its joint venture subsidiary Cooper Chengshan, the Indian tyre maker seems ready to give China a wide berth for the time being.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has signed an agreement with Chengshan Group Company Ltd. According to the Findlay, Ohio-based tyremaker, the deal begins with the commitment that the Chinese joint venture Cooper Chengshan Tire (CCT) business will be independently valued and is said to position Cooper to resume regular financial reporting. Tyres & Accessories understands that the deal sets a floor value of at least US$435 million for the total company and perhaps more if the independent valuation comes in higher. Cooper’s share price rose 2.75 per cent (correct at time of publication) in response to the news.
Tyre manufacturer Sailun has confirmed to Tyrepress an “indirect interest” in Kings Road Tyres. While the direct players in the investment group have yet to be fully confirmed, Sailun’s indirect interest gives some indication of potential tyre industry figures involved in the partnership, confirmed to involve Chinese, European and North American interests.
Giti Tire has promoted Matthew Mardle to its senior management team, taking up the newly created position of European supply chain manager. Mardle will be responsible for product life cycle management, forecasting and planning for GT Radial, Primewell and Runway tyres across passenger car, SUV and light truck (PCR) and commercial truck and bus (TBR) operations.
Most carbon black manufacturing units in the western world, especially in North America and Europe, are being forced to shut down their operations because of the heavy competition they are facing from low cost Asian manufacturers. That’s the view of Tech Archival analysts, who said as much in a report entitled “China Carbon Black: Assessment, Opportunities & Forecast Up-to 2018”, which was published 24 January.
Continental Tire the Americas has thanked “everyone who came from near and far and braved the weather” to attend the opening of its Sumter factory in South Carolina. Despite the arrival of an Arctic cold front, on 28 January several hundred guests, including Germany’s Ambassador to the US and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, attended the facility’s official inauguration.
The latest market figures from Michelin were released on 23 January, and these show across the board year-on-year growth taking place within the European tyre market in December 2013. These results for Europe include the Russian and Turkish markets. Original equipment passenger car and light truck tyre sales were eight per cent up on December 2012, while replacement market tyre sales expanded by one per cent. Michelin noted that growing markets experienced a slight decline in Western Europe due to winter tyre sales. Heavy truck tyre market growth was even more pronounced and experienced what Michelin called a ‘technical rebound’. In December, the original equipment market was 26 per cent above where it was a year earlier and the replacement tyre market was 12 per cent higher.
A Chinese court has ruled that a tyre maker’s use of the Besttone name and a logo similar to that of the Bridgestone tyre brand constitutes trademark infringement. As a result, production and sales of the Besttone brand must now stop and Chinese firm Shenzhen Momentum Star Tyre Co., Ltd. and its affiliate Hangzhou Hangyou Rubber Products Co., Ltd. must pay Bridgestone damages.
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