During the course of January’s Autosport Show in Birmingham, Tyres & Accessories met up with the directors of relative newcomer Westlake Motorsport Europe. While Westlake branded car and truck tyres are distributed by Zenises across many European markets, the Chinese manufacturer behind the brand (Hangzhou Zhongce a.k.a ZC Rubber) has chosen to distribute its motorsport tyres separately to that.
Under an agreement entered into with ZC Rubber Group Co. Ltd. and the Pneuhage Company Group, Danish transport and logistics company DSV A/S has gained exclusive distributor rights for the Westlake tyre brand in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. DSV will cooperate closely with official ZC Rubber European distributor Pneuhage to offer Westlake tyres to contracted hauliers and the wider commercial vehicle market in the four countries.
ZC Rubber made its debut in Malaysia through its Westlake Marketing Malaysia subsidiary on 14 November. Hangzhou ZhongCe Rubber, to give the company is more formal name, said it is offering consumers premium quality tyres at an affordable price.
ZC Rubber has hosted its 2016 dealer meeting in Brazil. The Hangzhou based manufacturer outlined its new strategic plan focusing on business development. According to Ge Guorong, vice president of ZC Rubber, the company has continued steady development with output reaching more than 7 million truck and bus tyres and more than 14 million car and light truck tyres in the first half of 2016, accounting for 17.57 per cent and 13.21 per cent respectively within the Chinese tyre industry.
Westlake supported boxer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez has won a championship in his fourth weight class, defeating Carlos Cuadras from Mexico in the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-flyweight title fight. It is the second cooperation between the largest tyre manufacturer in mainland China and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez.
ZC Rubber has provided Goodride CM998 tyres in size 12.00 R20 to the Lower Kafue Gorge Hydraulic Power Project, one of the largest projects in Zambia, operated by China’s Sinohydro Bureau 11 Co., Ltd. The deal marks the cooperation between ZC Rubber and Sinohydro aboard.
ZC Rubber’s new bike tyre factory in Anji, Zhejiang province, has commenced production. The Anji factory is associated with an investment of up to US$620 million and covers 860,000 square metres, focusing on the motorcycle tyres, e-bike tyres and inner tubes etc. Shen Jinrong, president of ZC Rubber, says that the factory‘s output value amounts to more than $1 billion.
ZC Rubber has opened its first Westlake store in Brunei. It is also the first one in Southeast Asia and comes as part of an expansion strategy targeting Southeast Asia.
ZC Rubber (Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., Ltd) has introduced an upgraded version of its SV308 summer tyre. Called the SA57, the new product is available in 33 passenger car and nine SUV sizes, and is said to offer a ten per cent shorter wet braking distance than the previous generation tyre, along with five per cent improved wet handling, three per cent better dry handling, three per cent less noise and two per cent less rolling resistance.
ZC Rubber has hosted its first European dealer meeting in Germany, designed to further development and marketing strategy in the market. Hosting “hundreds of partners and dealers,” Shen Jinrong, president of ZC Rubber, introduced the company mission: “To supply safe and value to global market”.
Any company that manages to secure exhibition space in the main hall of the Reifen show holds onto it tightly in future years, and this is something ZC Rubber (ZhongCe Rubber Group Ltd.) can confirm – the Chinese manufacturer will erect its stand in exactly the same Hall 3 space as it did two years ago, returning to stand C10. The company’s repeat appearance in the main hall shows that ZC Rubber doesn’t belong to the host of small and mid-sized manufacturers from the People’s Republic, who as a rule make themselves at home in another hall, rather it is the top player in this giant market and, in the last two or three years, held a place in the list of top ten global manufacturers.
With the MSTYR15 project now examining the correlation between claimed and actual EU tyre label performance, it is more important than ever for manufacturers to utilise test equipment they can trust to deliver reliable results. Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., Ltd (ZC Rubber) reports that the machinery it uses to test rolling resistance was recently inspected by TÜV SÜD, and was certified as highly accurate.
ZC Rubber’s Westlake Tyres brand has seen its sponsorship of WBC flyweight world champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (44-0, 38 KOs) start successfully, as the boxer defended his title on HBO Boxing. The 28-year old completed a near-perfect victory against challenger McWilliams Arroyo, the IBF super flyweight champion, on 24 April, sporting the tyre brand’s logo on his shorts.
Commercial tyre retreading specialist and tyre management solutions provider, Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres will showcase its range of Vacu-Lug retread and Westlake truck and bus tyres at the 2016 Commercial Vehicle Show. A wide selection of Westlake’s latest range of truck tyres will be on display, featuring drive, trailer and steer applications, to suit a range of commercial transport needs, including heavy and light truck, waste management and construction. Westlake’s manufacturer, ZC Rubber (AKA Hangzhou Zhongce), recently announced two new commercial vehicle tyres for European markets. Vacu-Lug’s stand will be located at Hall 4, Stand 4H120.
Zhongce Rubber Group (ZC Rubber) is launching a pair of new truck tyres that have been designed for the European market, with an emphasis on Russia and the Nordic region. The two new TBR tyres are the Westlake NS785, which is available in size 315/70R22.5, and the size 315/70R22.5 Westlake ND783. ZC Rubber says both tyres have been certified as ‘snow tyres’ by German certification organisation TÜV, and the ND783 is studdable.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.