ZC Rubber has announced that it will introduce a series of new commercial and consumer tyres in 2019. Covering European TBR and PCR tyre markets, the new products have been designed to meet local customer demands, the manufacturer states.
Private labels are a core business for wholesaler Deldo Autobanden NV, and currently it offers six ranges. One of these is Superia, and Deldo shares that it recently entered into a manufacturing agreement with ZC Rubber – the 10th largest tyre maker in the world according to Tyrepress.com’s latest ranking. ZC Rubber will produce a full line of high performance, UHP, SUV and light commercial truck patterns under the Superia brand name for Deldo.
When you look at Tire+’s deliberate proximity to a premium car show such as Auto Guangzhou, the first thing that comes to mind is original equipment (OE). If we take a comparable European equivalent event such as the Geneva Motor Show as an example, most of the leading global tyre players as well as some of the larger up-and-coming brands use Geneva as a way of showcasing new technologies and products in order to generate additional OE tyre sales as well as the benefit of the enhanced ongoing tyre replacement sales that come with the so-called OE pull-through effect. While it is not as linear and transactional an equation as investment in a motor show equals OE contracts, it clearly is an important part of the corporate courtship ritual. Surprisingly, things are a little different in China.
Mobike, one of the world’s largest bike-sharing companies, is adding e-bikes to its fleet that use new foamed integrated tyre solutions. The tyres are a result of a partnership between Dow and Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber to develop a tyre solution based on mixing Dow’s Infuse Olefin Block Copolymer (OBC), Engage Polyolefin Elastomers and Nordel EPDM.
China’s largest tyre manufacturer, Zhongce Rubber, has entered the global top ten, research published today by Tyrepress shows. Best known in Europe for its Westlake brand, the company has pushed up in the rankings past Giti Tire – manufacturer of GT Radial – which did not supply 2017 figures before the deadline, Toyo Tires, and Cooper Tire & Rubber, which fell three places. Competition in the lower quarter of the top ten places is fierce, with turnovers for tyres between 2.4 billion euros (Cooper in 13th) and 3.2 billion euros (Maxxis in ninth).
At the global partner conference held at its headquarters in Hangzhou, China on 17 July, ZC Rubber celebrated its 60th anniversary together with more than 1,000 partners from around the world.
Next Tuesday, Zhongce Rubber Group Co., Ltd. (ZC Rubber) will celebrate its 60th anniversary – and has invited more than 1,000 of its partners around the world to its home city of Hangzhou, China to join in the festivities.
At the end of May, anti-Chinese truck tyre tariffs were implemented. They included nominal (as opposed to percentage) tariffs at levels that surprised many. As a result, supply shortages and challenges at distributors were predicted. Shuttering of some of the lowest cost Chinese tyremakers is also expected. However, speaking to affected firms during the recent Tire Cologne reveals that many are already prepared to source tyres elsewhere. Indeed, the largest manufacturers have been off-shoring for some time. As a result, virtually all the leading Chinese tyre manufacturers already have non-Chinese tyre production in place. Let’s take a look at who’s got what.
Although present with its Goodride, Golden Crown and Westlake brands at The Tire Cologne, Richard Li stressed that the main focus for the Zhongce Rubber Group (ZC Rubber) during the show was upon the last of the trio. Westlake is, explained the assistant general manager and marketing director, the tyre maker’s “flagship brand in Europe.”
Vacu-Lug has become the new retread manufacturing partner for Hankook in the UK. The company signalled its new status by including the manufacturer’s Alphatread retreading brand on its stand at the Commercial Vehicle Show (24-26 April, Birmingham NEC), coinciding with the beginning of production of the Alphatread bead-to-bead retread truck tyre range at the Vacu-Lug factory in Grantham.
At the ZC Rubber dealer meeting held in late January, the ZC Rubber reported that its 2017 sales revenue was up by about 22 per cent.
ZC Rubber will increase capacity at its Thailand plant, with the expansion online by the end of 2018. The company said the strategic expansion will include increased production of truck and bus, car and OTR tyres. ZC Thailand, the Thai subsidiary of ZC Rubber, opened in 2015 with a production line covering PCR, TBR, OTR and two-wheel tyres.
ZC Rubber hosted a meeting for dealers and partners in Bangkok, Thailand on 28 Januaruy. The distributor conference was headlined, “More Progress More Achievement”, focusing on improving market share in local tyre markets. Ge Guorong, vice president of ZC Rubber, shared the great achievement in the 2017 that the company’s sales revenue was up for 2017, by about 22 per cent.
ZC Rubber has appointed Craige McFerrin vice-president of sales for the Arisun brand that is offered by its ZC America subsidiary. Previously East US region sales manager for ZC America, McFerrin racked up more than 37 years of experience in commercial vehicle tyre sales before joining ZC Rubber.
ZC Rubber reports it is supplying the Chaoyang CL403 as an original equipment tyre for the Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT) produced by Chinese truck manufacturer Wanshan Special Vehicle. The CL403 is being fitted to the vehicle in size 355/65-15.
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