Sumitomo Expects Much From China
For Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. –Japan’s second largest tyre manufacturer after Bridgestone – the Chinese tyre market is a market of overwhelming potential. Although the company currently only generates an annual turnover of US$112 million in China out of a market worth $4.59 billion – a share of only 2.5 per cent, China is the market possessing by far the greatest growth rates for the Kobe based manufacturer. Compared with 2005 figures, Sumitomo’s Chinese turnover has doubled. And Sumitomo’s president Tetsuji Mino doesn’t expect less for 2007; an annual turnover of $220 million is the minimum Sumitomo plans to generate this year on the Chinese tyre market. “The growth potential of Asian tyre markets is just enormous,“ Mino stated in an interview.