Following year-long negotiations Maxxis International has won an OE contract to supply General Motors. A new multi-year contract specifies that Maxxis will supply its brand of light truck tyre, LT225/75R16, to a General Motors ‘vehicle programme’ in the third quarter of 2006.
The Maxxis brand was rated fifth in the Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands awards, from an initial 1,000 candidates. To make the top 10, at least 20 per cent of revenues under the name must have come from overseas and the top ten positions are decided by “brand value”, which is determined by the drawing power of the brand, calculated in accordance with criteria stipulated by New York-based branding agency Interbrand. Of the top 10 Taiwanese brands, seven were from IT companies.
Maxxis International, perhaps better known in the tyre world as Cheng Shin Rubber, is to build a new factory in Thailand to produce passenger and light truck tyres. Phase 1 of the multi-phase project will be completed in late 2004, when the factory will be producing 10,000 tyres a day, employing 1,700 staff. The site, in Rayong City, south of Bangkok, covers 72 acres. This new venture is the latest in a series of expansions for Maxxis; it is expanding its factory in mainland China, has moved to a larger distribution centre in California and expanded its US HQ in Suwanee, Georgia.
In December, Taiwanese tyre manufacturer Cheng Shin, producer of the Maxxis brand, opened a technical centre in Georgia where the company employs five people. Cheng Shin already has an R&D centre in Taiwan, employing more than 150 technical staff. The company does not plan to open other R&D centres outside Taiwan.
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