Group International and GITI Tire USA have announced a distribution arrangement through which TGI will distribute GT Radial branded tires in South Florida. TGI will carry the full line of GT Radial tyres, including the Maxtour line, Champiro 128, Champiro 228, Champiro 328, Champiro 528, Savero H/T, Adventuro A/T II and Adventuro M/T lines. The GT Radial line up will be stocked in the company’s Miami distribution centre.
GITI Tire (Europe) B.V. has announced that it will completely replace its passenger car and truck product offerings by the opening months of 2010. The brand overhaul also includes the renewal of GT Radial brand positioning this as the company’s flagship brand identity. During a detailed briefing, the company produced data apparently showing that GITI’s ambitious aims of competing on the same level as the premium tyre manufacturers, with the launch of the new range of products, are now within reach. According to the company, large-scale investment in research and development has enabled GITI to markedly improve its product’s performance compared with the previous generation and – crucially – to be prepared for forthcoming legislative requirements.
Speaking from the company’s European Technical Centre at MIRA in the UK, company representatives told Tyres & Accessories that the R&D department has been planning compliance to the forthcoming s-marking requirements since 2006 and is on-track to conform to the next round of legislation in 2012.
Autocar’s latest tyre test reports on the extent of the performance gap between premium and budget products when it comes to wet weather handling. Autocar tested five leading budget brands (GT Radial, Linglong, Nankang, Triangle and Wanli) against an established Continental tyre. The magazine conducted its own tests for wet handling and braking, dry handling and braking and aquaplaning, plus a stringent high-speed test at the Contidrom test centre in Hannover. Summing up Autocar senior tester Jamie Corstorphine said: “We expected the bargain tyres in this test to fall short of the Continental, but we were not prepared for just how poorly some performed.”
Kumho has returned to the Nigerian market following the naming of a new national distributor. Super Tyres and Motor Limited have been appointed to the role, reports Koh Bongyoon, Kumho’s international marketing manager, Africa operations. At a media briefing in Lagos, Super Tyres and Motor brand manager Aloke Sharma said the company aimed to position Kumho above competition in the premium segment.
According to Aloke, Super Tyres and Motors plans to hold at least 20 per cent market share for passenger car tyres within the first six months of Kumho tyre sales. The company is also the sole Nigerian distributor for GT Radial, Vikrant, DoubleCoin, BKT and Techking.
A greater presence in this part of the world is planned for GITI Tire, as comments made by GITI Europe marketing manager Peter Foulkes regarding May’s Reifen exhibition testify: “GITI intend to use their presence at the show to officially launch and take forward to the next progressive stage, the company’s growing sales presence in Europe (including the UK and Ireland).” Mr. Foulkes adds that, at the show, GITI plans to show off a number of products not yet seen here, including a new asymmetric ultra high performance tyre – the Champiro HPY.
And while we must await the Essen show for further details on this new product, GITI is already well established as a manufacturer of performance tyres. The company reports it is continuing to expand its position within the UHP sector of the market, and now offers more than 80 sizes, with many further additions in the final stages of development.
De Klok Banden BV, one of the largest tyre wholesale businesses in Holland, will be exhibiting its range of exclusive brands on its show stand in Essen (Hall 3:330). In addition to dealing with all the well-known names, De Klok operates as something of an exclusive brand specialist, distributing: Accelera, GT Radial, Nankang and Nokian tyres. According to the company special attention will be paid to the promotion of the Delfin private brand to show visitors.
Giti Tire is a company with ambitious plans – in December company director Dr. Enki Tan told Tyres & Accessories that Giti intends to penetrate the European and US markets faster than any tyre manufacturer has ever done so before. To reach this ambitious goal the company is in the process of adding an additional 10 million units a year capacity to its facility in China’s Anhui province.
Giti Tire claims to now offer 4×4 drivers a wide range of tyres to suit their driving style and the type of terrain on which they drive. Amongst the comprehensive Giti 4×4 range is the UHP GT Champiro 528 for 4×4 vehicles. This line-up has been exclusively designed for the luxury and sports SUV sector and covers 15 popular sizes, all V speed rated. The tyre features a directional tread pattern that Giti describes as “aggressive.”
A German fleet has expressed its surprise at the high drive axle mileage performance of Giti Radial TBR tyres. Braunschweiger Verkerhr operates around 150 city and regional buses in the region of Braunschweig in Germany. They fit and manage tyres in their own garage, and closely follow up on performance. In 2006 their local tyre supplier, Reifen Ehrhardt, proposed to the fleet manager to try a new brand, GT Radial. The fleet agreed to buy 40 tyres and put them tow work in various axle positions and bus fitments.
“We were truly surprised by the performance of the GT Radial tyres” says Andreas Glaser, Fleet Manager responsible for purchasing, adding: “When we saw we could reach over 100,000 km on certain types of buses we did not hesitate to buy more GT Radial for our fleet.”
Formed in the early 1970’s, Compass Group Ltd has been involved in the UK and international tyre industry for more than three decades. And yet the significant role the Group’s tyres play in the market is perhaps underestimated. With passenger car sales of 2 million units and being a leader in the non-premium truck-tyre segment, Compass Group plays a significant role in the UK market. However, in addition to tyres, the Compass Group has a number of other strings to its bow which makes it a rather unusual player in the mainstream tyre markets. Tim Chesney, managing director of the Compass Group Ltd, told Tyres & Accessories about the breadth of the company’s operations and exciting plans to develop its tyre businesses over the next few years with GT Radial being the focus of this expansion.
Recently released income statements indicate that PT Gajah Tunggal Tbk, manufacturers of the GT Radial brand and ranked as one of the world’s 30 largest tyremakers, had a challenging year during 2006.
While net sales for the company increased by 13.2 per cent to 5,470 billion Indonesian rupiahs (£314.4 million) in the year to December 31, 2006, operating income dropped from 407 billion rupiahs (£23.4 million) at the end of 2006 to 365 billion (£21.0 million) a year later. Net income dropped a worrying 65.9 per cent to 118 million rupiahs (£6.8 million).
Quarterly figures confirm the trend towards higher sales yet lower income, with quarterly net sales in the period to March 31, 2007 posted as 1,535 billion rupiahs (£88.2 million) as opposed to 1,229 billion a year earlier. Operating income increased from 111 million rupiahs (£6.4 million) to 171 million (£9.9 million). However net income for the quarter was scarcely a fraction of that gained a year earlier, down from 215 million rupiahs (£12.4 million) in March 2006 to just 12.9 million (£739,000) this year.
On 25th April 2006 Mr. Kari-Pekka Laaksonen, Vice-President Sales and Logistics of the Finnish tyre manufacturer Nokian and Mr Jan J. Proos of De Klok Banden, laid the foundation stone for the new De Klok logistic centres in Oud-Beijerland.
Once again, Dutch tyre wholesaler De Klok Banden will be present at the Reifen 2006 exhibition in Essen. De Klok handles all of the well-known, premium tyre brands and also has a number of exclusive agencies for imported brands.
Included in the names in the De Klok portfolio are Nokian, Nankang (for which De Klok is the exclusive supplier for Germany and the Benelux countries), Delfin, GT Radial (for the Benelux countries) and Runway; a brand manufactured in China.
The new Compass Group GT Radial National Distribution Centre was formally opened in October by Mr William Gozali, the Senior Export Manager of PT Gajah Tunggal tbk Indonesia.
The Indonesian company Gajah Tunggal is one of the biggest tyre manufacturers in south-east Asia producing its leading brand GT Radial for demanding markets like Europe. At the moment Gajah Tunggal is expanding its product ranges in order to offer up-to-date tyres for an increasing number of customers around the world. With a tour of the factory Tyres & Accessories was given the opportunity to get an idea of how tyres are produced on Gajah Tunggal’s all-in-one site in Tangerang near Jakarta where the company is also developing and producing tyres for the domestic and regional markets.
The two managing directors of Reifen Gundlach, Gebhard and Joachim Jansen, once again invited a number of important guests to visit the Gajah Tunggal factory in Jakarta. This journey was to make it clear to everybody that, with the German wholesaler on one the side and the Indonesian tyre manufacturer on the other, two promising partners have been found to make progress in the hotly-disputed home market. The official reason for visiting the company was the introduction of the latest uhp tyres GT Radial Champiro HPZ 40/45 and the Maxmiler CX, which could also be tested on the Sentul racing track. For the management it was important to keep in touch with the world’s leading tyre manufacturers. Referring to marketing, GT was already cooperating with the German wholesaler Reifen Gundlach before the Japanese world trading group Itochu acquired a majority holding in the trading enterprise from Raubach, in September 1998, which is said to be have since grown to 75 percent. Reifen Gundlach’s market acceptance has grown so far, because being part of Itochu has been very important, not least, for the cooperation with Michelin. This is a strategic partnership selected by Reifen Gundlach, in order to bring those customers to the tyre manufacturer that it finds difficult to reach, and to help Reifen Gundlach itself to successfully expand its tyre range.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
