In response to investors’ questions, Linglong reports its Serbian plant was profitable in the third quarter of 2024 “with a high overall production and sales rate and gradually improving profitability”. In the third quarter, the tyre manufacturer held a grand celebration ceremony to indicate that its Serbian plant had achieved mass production.
In 2025, Hubtrac plans to enter the U.S. market through both online and offline channels, offering 24/7 tyre replacement and maintenance services. Following the completion of its Serbia production base, the Hubtrac brand has announced that tyres made by its German and US design teams are being specifically tailored for the U.S. market.
Linglong reports net profit attributable to shareholders in the first three quarters was between 1.65 billion yuan (about £179 million; €215 million) and 1.75 billion yuan (about £190 million; €228 million). At the same time, the tyre manufacturer said it actively upgraded its products in 2024 and continued to make structural adjustments in the domestic and foreign retail and OE markets. In addition, the company’s second overseas base (its Serbia factory) has gradually released production capacity to support production and sales growth in overseas markets.
Shandong Linglong’s “Project Europe” is clearly picking up speed. The manufacturer has now flipped the switch for mass production at its tyre plant in Serbia – the first ever by a Chinese manufacturer in Europe – which was inaugurated in 2022. Without delay, Linglong is also tackling the second expansion phase of its so-called Smart Factory, thereby pushing the investment volume to 1.6 billion dollars. To honour this moment, the manufacturer hosted a number of customers and suppliers at a ‘Global Partner Conference’ in Zrenjanin, Serbia, in mid-September, but also used it to place ‘Project Europe’ in a broader context.
Korea’s Minister for Trade, Inkyo Cheon,g and Serbia’s Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade, Tomislav Momirović, have jointly launched negotiations for a Korea-Serbia Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in Seoul, announcing Korea’s first trade negotiations with a Balkan country. In conjunction with the launch of negotiations, MOTIE also held a business conference with Korean companies operating in the Serbian market.
Total investment in the Hubtrac brand’s European production base in Serbia will now total over 1.5 billion euros after company representatives confirmed that it will receive an additional $645 million of investment. The additional funds will be used to launch the second phase of the factory’s expansion project. Once completed, the facility will have an annual production capacity of 1.1 million high-performance radial tyres, including 800,000 commercial vehicle tyres, 50,000 engineering radial tyres, 150,000 agricultural radial tyres, and 100,000 retreaded tyres.
In early August, Linglong Tire hosted a visit to its new factory in Zrenjanin, Serbia, for approximately 130 dealers from the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific regions. During the visit, Linglong Tire signed long-term cooperation agreements with 16 strategic partners, establishing a framework for closer future collaboration.
In the two years since opening its new plant in Serbia, Toyo Tire Corporation has come to view the facility as “extremely cost-competitive.” The tyre maker completed the installation of production equipment at the site in December 2023, and although the company states in its Integrated Report 2024 that “many obstacles” remain before the plant can “start a vertical take-off toward full-scale operation,” it anticipates that full production systems will be “up and running” before the end of the current business year.
Linglong is investing $645 million (about £506 million; 591 million) in order to expand the company’s Serbian tyre capacity, build a photovoltaic power station and even add a retreading and recycling wing. According to our Chinese-language sister site, the expansion project is scheduled to start in January 2025 and be completed and put into use at the end of December 2030.
Linglong expects that in the first half of 2024, after deducting non-recurring gains and losses, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company will be 840 million to 990 million yuan. This figure has significantly increased compared with 499 million yuan in 2023.
Hubtrac Tires Europe’s sales division has raised its sales forecast for the third quarter of 2024. According to the company, executives of which Tyres & Accessories met with during the recent Tire Cologne exhibition, the revision is primarily driven by “the strategic geographical advantage of its top-tier production plant in Serbia and the recent sharp increase in shipping prices from China and Southeast Asia to Europe”.
In recent months, Linglong Serbia tyre factory has been certified by car manufacturers including: Nissan, Volkswagen, Audi, Ford, Stellantis group, Hyundai and Kia as well as the truck manufacturer MAN and approved for the production of original equipment tyres – an essential prerequisite for the production of tyres specified for delivery to automobile manufacturers.
When Chinese premiere Xi Jinping landed in Belgrade on 7 May 2024, the Serbian government literally rolled out the red carpet. As well as providing security, the president Xi’s escort of MIG-29 fighter jets was another way of honouring what has become known as the ”ironclad friendship” between the countries. After Serbia, Hungary is the next stop on president Xi’s tour of Eastern Europe. Since both countries have also become home to significant tyre and automotive manufacturing investments in recent years, it appears that the influence of China and Chinese companies in Eastern Europe is growing.
Linglong’s revenue in 2023 exceeded 20 billion yuan, and its net profit was close to 1.4 billion yuan. The tyre manufacturer produced 79.117 million tyres throughout the year, an increase of 20.4 per cent year-on-year. Among them, semi-steel tyres increased by 19.20 per cent, all-steel tyres increased by 30.79 per cent, and bias tyres decreased by 6.19 per cent.
Linglong Tire is relocating the production of truck tyres for the European market to its newly inaugurated factory in Serbia from their previous production base in China and Thailand, Tyrepress sister website Reifenpresse reports. According to the Chinese manufacturer, the Serbia plant is “one of the most modern tyre factories in the world.” With four new tyre series and a total of 47 new products or product sizes, the product range includes truck tyres for all purposes, all of which were “developed specifically for the European market.” Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić told Chinese media that Linglong could become the country’s “fifth or sixth-largest exporter” thanks to the new plant.
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