Middle East
Following a successful Tyrexpo Asia earlier this year, Zafco, the Dubai based tyre distributor of tyres, batteries and lubricants, opted for a second high profile exhibition stand at Automechanika Middle East. Tyres & Accessories was on-hand in Dubai to find out more.
One collaboration Tyres & Accessories experienced the benefit of during Automechanika Middle East was that of Auto Strategies and CIP Development Services. The two companies work together to produce insights in the automotive markets of some of the lesser reported markets, including many in the Middle East. As well as annual vehicle sales, which are relatively easy to get hold of, the companies reports also look at the car parcs of the markets covered. And data that looks at what vehicles are currently on the market wearing out tyres is obviously of great interest to tyre companies too.
May's edition of Tyres & Accessories featured special reports on Retail/Buying Groups; Industrial Tyres and Van Tyres. Subscribers can view this in our online virtual e-paper format by clicking more.
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Al Dobowi Group chairman Surender Singh Kandhari’s spoke on “the emergence of budget tyres” at the recent Automechanika Middle East his argument that there is no such thing as a bad tyre may have raised some eyebrows, but it certainly got the audience thinking. Highlighting that the combination of ambitious manufacturers based in emerging markets and increasingly tough legislation has seen so-called budget brands rapidly increase sales volumes and standards, his most memorable comment came when he posited: "There are no bad tyres; only good ones and better ones.”
Following the news in April 2009 that Shandong Wanda Boto Tyre Co., Ltd., was to build a passenger car production facility nearby its existing tyre manufacturing complex in China, company representatives have given a update of the construction process. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories back then, company representatives explained how, despite the ongoing economic downturn, Boto Tyre was planning to build a 15 million passenger car radial a year plant. Around 1 billion yuan was said to have been earmarked for the expansion work.
With temperatures ranging between 39 and 47’C during the week of this year’s Automechanika Middle East, Dubai might seem like a bizarre place to talk about winter tyres, but that’s the position Tyres & Accessories found itself in during a conversation with Deldo Autobanden NV’s international sales and marketing manager, Rutger Veerman. In addition there was also news of a new Deldo private brand tyre.
But first the winter tyres. According to Veerman, 2011 is the first year the well-known Belgian tyre wholesaler has pre-sold winter tyres to distributors in the UK. Sales of the ironically cold weather products are also said to be booming in general with many companies across Europe failing to get enough stock during the last winter season.
Shandong Deruibao Tire Co., Ltd., produces passenger car radial tyres under two Chinese brands plus the slightly more anglicized Deruibo international export moniker. Deruibao is currently looking for international distribution partners having embarked on an export programme last March. Initially things began with the export of the firm’s truck and bus radials, but moving forward, the company hopes to do the same with passenger car radials in 2012.
The company currently manufactures 3 million all-steel tyres a year across 100 stock keeping units (SKUs), but the company began building a 24 million unit a year plant a couple of years ago. The firm already produces 13 patterns and 13 sizes of truck and bus radials.
Established in November 2002, Sailun Co., Ltd. has been producing tyres for around 7 years. During this time the company has established a foundation in the market place, growing very fast in a number of areas. The company started off focusing on distribution agreements in North America, Europe and South America, but – as we saw from the establishment of a Sailun Europe subsidiary, which was announced in October last year – the firm is set on further expansion.
Currently the company is on the hunt for a tyre distributor local to the Middle East with the motivation and ability to drive the brand forward, hence the decision to exhibit in Dubai at this year’s Automechanika Middle East at the start of June. At the moment Sailun reports turnover of around US$40 million in this region, but the aim is for a new partner local to the Middle East region to work with the company to significantly increase this. Sailun representatives told Tyres & Accessories that the firm is already in talks with some interested parties, but it is far too early to share any details about this.
Al Futtaim Motors’ new Express Tyre & Battery fitting centre recently became Dubai’s first firm to fit what is purportedly “the fastest wheel aligner in the world” by introducing the 4D Master Aligner. Located in Al Quoz Dubai, the FastFit branch is described as a one-stop shop solution for those benchmarked services and fast turnaround times.
The 4D Master Aligner reportedly operates 50 per cent faster than any other wheel aligning machine in the UAE market today. It uses cameras to capture eight measurements per second, guaranteeing real-time visualisation of data on the control unit screen, along with LCD repeaters integrated into the rear measuring heads, permitting simultaneous work under the vehicle on adjustment operations.
Stamford Tyres Corporation Limited has announced that its net profits for the year ended 30 April 2011 jumped 41.4 per cent to S$13.3 million off the back of “better sales mix of high performance tyres and earthmover tyres.” According to the company, this combination of high value items “offset rising tyre costs,” while the company’s business in the South Africa, North Asia and South East Asian markets are said to have put in strong sales performances.
Less than a month after breaking ground on its Liang Jiang Xin Qu factory in China’s Chongqing region, Hankook Tire has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant in Indonesia. This facility, in Lippo Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java, will become the Korean tyre maker’s seventh global plant. Four production facilities on a 60 hectare site will cater to North American and Middle East export markets and serve as a regional business hub for the emerging Asian market.
Infrastructure and tyre usage in the Middle East is very similar to that in India, says Apollo Tyres, and this is the accepted reason why its products have enjoyed a high level of acceptance throughout the region. In total, the Middle East accounts for some 30 per cent of the Indian tyre maker’s export revenues, and in the last years it has built up a 23-partner distribution network there spanning 14 countries. Now, Apollo Tyres has extended its Middle East presence with the opening of its first office outside the company’s operations in India, the Netherlands and South Africa. This new Dubai-based office will serve as a hub for distributing Apollo’s India-manufactured tyres.
Automechanika 2011 features a strong contingent of Indian tyre manufacturers and distributors including well known names such as JK Tyre, BKT and Emrald, to name just three. As the show organisers expanded the number of exhibitors many times over at the fair in general, it appears to have been a conscious decision to invite tyre makers from the subcontinent to the tyre halls in a bid to attract increasingly influential companies in addition to leading Chinese firms such as Hangzhou Zhongce, Shandong Linglong and Sailun.
Following a successful opening day, with a steady stream of visitors in attendance, Automechanika Middle East 2011 continued today with a series of tyre-related seminars dominating the day’s Automechanika Academy sessions.
Following a successful Tyrexpo Asia Zafco, the Dubai based tyre manufacturer, importer and exporter of tyres, batteries and lubricants, is also exhibiting at Automechanika Middle East. Founded in Dubai in 1993, Zafco is one of the world's leading importers and exporters of car tyres, batteries and lubricants. The company is based in the Jebel Ali Free Zone and its UAE storage facilities, which cover 43,100 square metres, can accommodate 1 million tyres.
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