ZC Rubber is to open a new Goodride Autospace flagship store, located at Samut Sakhon in Thailand. According to the company, the store covers 1600 square metres and is the second Autospace store in Thailand opened by ZC Rubber. At beginning of 2017, the company opened its first overseas Autospace store – a Westlake-branded version in Rayong, Thailand.
Huayi, which trades under the Double Coin brand name has established Huayi Tire Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia. According to reports, the location reduces delivery times for the firm’s truck and bus and OTR tyres.
Tyrepac reports that it has launched Thailand’s first online tyre portal together with Toyota Group member Toyota Tsusho and Bangkok-based automotive supplier Manoyonchai Co. Ltd.
ZC Rubber Thailand has added a new production line for motorcycle tyres to support the market in Southeast Asian market. The manufacturer also launched its first bias industrial tyre.
The Rubber Authority of Thailand, together with the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, has unveiled its own tyre brand – TH-Tyre. The two bodies hope that sales of TH-Tyre products will stimulate the use of natural rubber grown and tapped in Thailand. The tyres, which debuted on in the Thai market last month, are manufactured by local manufacturer Deestone Co.,Ltd.
The ZC Rubber factory in Thailand is gaining a new line for the production of industrial tyres. The Chinese manufacturer shares that skid steer, telehandler, backhoe and pneumatic cross-ply forklift tyres will join the plant’s production portfolio when the new line enters operation next month.
Thailand has been selected as the location for the new passenger car and light truck tyre factory that Continental AG has planned for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Groundbreaking at the 750,000 square metre site in Rayong Province later this year will mark the start of work on phase one of a project that will require an investment of approximately €250 million by 2022 and give the factory a planned production of around 4 million tyres per annum within the same timeframe. Operations are expected to begin in 2019.
Autospace, ZC Rubber’s retail chain, opened its first branch in Thailand on 18 January 2017. The new branch is also the firm’s first overseas flagship store.
At present, Bridgestone Corporation produces new aircraft tyres at two facilities in Japan, and the company has announced plans to build a third plant for manufacturing these products. This plant is one of two that Bridgestone will set up in Thailand; the second will be dedicated to the retreading of aircraft tyres. A total of 15.0 billion yen (£103.8 million) will be invested in the two facilities, and both are scheduled to commence production in December 2019.
One Chinese and two Thai partners have agreed to invest in a new joint venture passenger car and truck tyre factory in Thailand to supply both the domestic and export markets. The joint venture company hasn’t yet been named and will be established by June 2017. A total of 1 billion baht (£22.5 million) is to be invested in the new facility.
On 5 October, Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (SRT), the Sumitomo Rubber Group’s tyre manufacturing and sales subsidiary in Thailand, celebrated the tenth anniversary of operations at its passenger car and agricultural/industrial tyre plant in Rayong Province. The festivities were attended by around 300 guests, including the Governor of Rayong Province, representatives from various government agencies, business partners, customers and factory staff, as well as Ikuji Ikeda, president of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd (SRI).
Vee Tyre and Rubber is recalling certain Taiga M/T tyres in size LT225/75R16, according to NHTSA (the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). 21 tyres manufactured between 8 January 2015 and 1 March 2015 are covered in the recall.
Continental’s interest in setting up a tyre factory in Thailand has been the subject of rumour for years, and once again the topic is on the table. Bangkok-based newspaper The Nation shares that Sirivan Koo-Amphorn, general manager of Continental Tyres Thailand, is meeting with government representatives this week to discuss incentives and other support that may persuade Continental to select Thailand ahead of rivals such as China. A decision on the location of Continental’s new factory is expected to be taken by the end of this year.
Under China’s ‘Belt and Road’ development strategy (Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, to give its full name), excess production capacity within the country is being exported to locations within Eurasia, Asia and parts of Africa. An advantage of this policy for tyre makers is that setting up production facilities outside of China offers a means of avoiding the tariffs applied to Chinese-made tyres in numerous markets. Shanghai Huayi (Group) Company, majority owner of Shanghai Huayi Group Corporation Limited (the entity known until recently as Double Coin Holdings), signed a deal in May that will see it supply the North American and Southeast Asian markets with tyres produced at a brand new factory in Thailand.
Data from the recently concluded Safe Drive Campaign, conducted by Apollo Tyres in two locations in Thailand, revealed that less than 10 per cent vehicles being driven around in the country had incorrect inflation pressure. Of this 10 per cent, most were found driving with under-inflated tyres.
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