Middle East
Former Nokian Heavy Tyres marketing manager Perttu Mäkinen has been appointed by Mitas as its country manager for the Nordic region. Mäkinen will operate from the Mitas a.s. headquarters in Tampere, Finland, and his responsibilities will include sales and marketing for Mitas and Continental agricultural and other off-road tyres in Finland, Sweden and Norway.
Tyrepress.com took the opportunity of Reifen China to discuss the effect on exports of the US tariff on Chinese manufactured tyres coming to an end on 26 September. While Tyrepress.com has often focussed on the introduction of EU tyre labels – which received mixed coverage amongst exhibitors in Shanghai – the effect of its introduction should be seen in the context of the US tariff’s end. The question isn’t just how Chinese manufacturers are dealing with tyre labelling restrictions, but whether they are altering export strategies based on demand created by the expiration of the three years of 35 per cent duty faced by importers of Chinese tyres in the US too.
At Reifen China Tyrepress.com spoke with three European wholesalers at the show, representing Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland. Deldo’s Rutger Veerman emphasised the importance of its connection with Asian markets, having sold Chinese brands for 15 years. Chinese products, including Minerva and Fortuna, made up half of the wholesaler’s eight million tyre sales in 2011, while Veerman says the increasing market for higher-end vehicles in Asia has in turn increased demand for premium brand tyres in the Asian replacement market. He said the company’s presence at the show was important in talking with suppliers and customers alike, emphasising Deldo’s “message to colleagues in China to consider strategy more”, since the control offered by private Deldo labels is attractive to “lots of customers”.
The sixth Reifen China show took place at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre on 14-16 November, with two neighbouring halls housing RubberTech China 2012 simultaneously on an exhibition area of 11,500 square metres in total. Representing an increased number of nations, exhibitor stands included large displays near the entrance for leading Chinese manufacturers such as Double Coin, Shandong Linglong, Techking, Hangzhou Zhongce and Cooper Chengshan, while less familiar and almost brand new names mingled with visiting stands from India (Apollo) and Europe (Deldo, Interstate and Profil) in the rest of the hall. Joint organisers Messe Essen – responsible for Germany's market-leading Reifen show – and the China United Rubber Corporation welcomed visitors on the first day; the latter's general manager Ma Junhua said that Reifen China's "six years of previous success" was "inseparable" from the support of visitors and exhibitors. Overall, 112 exhibitors from 15 nations – newly including Poland and Russia – were present at Reifen China showing tyres, wheels and garage equipment.
An article in the Daily Telegraph by David Williams takes an in-depth look at car thefts in the UK. Despite a falling level of theft numbers (1991: 347,000, 2011: 95,681) the proportion of vehicles never returned to their owners is rising. Figures from RetainaGroup show that 41 per cent were returned last year, compared with 51 per cent in 2008 and 70 per cent in 2002. The insurer Swiftcover says that, last year, 65,000 UK-registered vehicles were stolen and never recovered, with a value of £300 million.
Qingdao's Fullrun Tyre Corp is spending its time at Reifen China 2012 introducing new models to its range of tyres, some of which are distributed in the UK through Micheldever, Kings Road Tyres and Malvern Tyres' King David Tyres. The latest Fullrun-branded products on the stand are the F6000 passenger car high performance tyre, which it says it plans to distribute to King David, and the new TB1000 truck pattern. Autogrip also has the AG66 PCR, which Fullrun says will be distributed by Micheldever in the UK. According to the company's representatives, 90 per cent of its Fullrun tyres are rated "either EC or CE".
Sailun Tyres has announced details of a string of new appointments to its European sales team. The first was the appointment of Martin Lumb as new business development manager, Europe & Middle East. Lumb joins the Sailun team from 1 November 2012 having previously worked for Infinity and Goodyear.
Telemetry and M2M solutions provider Concirrus and UK-based vehicle tracking and fleet management solution supplier CMS SupaTrak have announced that that PressurePro’s tyre pressure information will be integrated into their new EcoTyre solution.
When Tyres & Accessories visited Nankang’s stand at CITExpo, Caysha Mai from the company’s export department was able to report that Nankang’s changeover to a new corporate identity, which began in 2010, is almost complete. “The new identity includes a modified logo and a new slogan – free your way,” she shared. “This means have a smooth ride.”
Eastman Industries Limited was present at CITExpo with its ‘Addo India’ tyre and battery brand. The company, which is headquartered in Ludhiana, in India’s Punjab state, produces and supplies a wide range of passenger car, truck, industrial OTR and agricultural tyres.
Membat describes itself as a young brand, but behind this newcomer to the tyre world stands Spanish fast fitting chain Auto Equip. “We’ve been in the tyre business for 25 years and now we’re taking advantage of the industry knowledge we’ve gained and produced the Membat private brand,” shares Natan Banyeres, international trade manager at Membat. Banyeres told Tyres & Accessories that the Auto Equip network consists of 21 outlets, and the company also distributes tyres. “We are proud of our Spanish heritage but now want to export this and develop a global vision,” he adds.
Beijing-based Best Choice International Trade Co. was present at CITExpo with its Mazzini and Sunew private brands. Sales manager Stephen Wu commented that visitors from the Middle East and Asia had shown “a lot of interest” during the show. These are currently the most active regions for Best Choice, Wu added; Europe is “quieter at the moment.”
The Aufine Group says it “enjoyed a very active and successful” CITExpo show this year, with a great deal of interest from visitors. Speaking with Tyres & Accessories at the Shanghai show, company general manager David Sun says that although he’d observed signs of the current global economic situation amongst people he’d met during the exhibition, the Aufine team nevertheless met new contacts and held meetings that offer a good chance for new business relationships.
The third generation of commercial vehicle tyres Continental is displaying at this week’s IAA Commercial Vehicles show has been described by the German manufacturer as the “most comprehensive product offensive for truck and bus tyres in the over 140-year history of the Hanover-based tyre manufacturer.” Continental says that from mid-2013 it will successively switch over all of its steering axle, drive axle, trailer and bus tyres across the world to new third generation products.
Over the last decade China’s tyre industry has worked hard to overcome the scepticism of many market observers in the West, and today the country boasts a number of brands established as credible players in Europe and North America. Their journey to domestic and international success has been aided by Chinese trade shows, including the annual China International Tire Expo, or CITExpo show. In September, the tenth edition of CITExpo took place in Shanghai. Speaking with Tyres & Accessories at its conclusion, the managing director of the company behind CITExpo reported a very successful show.
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