Michelin’s AirCaptif to double production capacity
Inflatable structure specialist AirCaptif, a Michelin company since late last year, has unveiled a new innovation in partnership with Dassault Aviation. At the same time, Michelin announces that AirCaptif plans to double its production capacity from 2023 and bring new talent into the team.
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Farewell Russia? The exit of global players offers long-term growth to domestic firms
Global tyre businesses have exited the Russian tyre business as a direct consequence of the Russian government’s decision to invade Ukraine. We all knew this was coming, following initial announcements from the likes of Michelin, Bridgestone and Nokian along those lines in the second quarter of 2022. However, the news that Nokian sold its much-lauded St. Petersburg operation to Tatneft at the end of October indicates that the exodus is underway. And that, in turn, means significant tyre production capacity within Russia has changed hands, something that has an inevitable impact on those departing, those remaining and the wider tyre business. In this column, we take a look at how Michelin, Bridgestone and Nokian have been negotiating their respective exits from Russia and ask what it might mean for the future.
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Volume and price-mix performance current keys to success of premium tyre brands
Michelin’s third-quarter 2022 sales outperformed consensus expectations by 3.9 per cent. Sharing its third-quarter 2022 financial results, Michelin confirmed its full-year 2022 adjusted pre-tax profit (EBIT) guidance, but it also reduced its free-cash-flow expectations by 0.5 billion euros. But much of the company’s relative success depends on its strong price-mix performance, a factor that is equally important to other premium tyre brands. Here, Tyres & Accessories reads Michelin’s recent third-quarter 2022 financial results in light of the consensus expectations and a recent investor’s note published by Jefferies.
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Bridgestone seeking buyer for its Russia operations
Following its decision in March to suspend all manufacturing activities in Russia, Bridgestone has officially initiated the process of finding a local buyer for its Russian assets. The process of finding a buyer and closing any subsequent deal is expected to take “several months”.
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Sailun cancels a wholly-owned subsidiary
On October 27, Sailun held a board meeting and decided to cancel the wholly-owned subsidiary Sailun Tire International Corp (Sailun International). Sailun International’s registered capital is US$1 million, and its registered address is in the British Virgin Islands. The business scope of this subsidiary includes import and export trade, warehousing and distribution, and project investment. Sailun stated that Sailun International’s cancellation would neither significantly impact the company’s overall business nor harm its and its shareholders’ interests.
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Several Guangrao tyre companies have stopped or limited production
Guangrao County in Dongying City seems to have gone silent in a short period. On October 20, Guangrao detected an asymptomatic case of Covid-19. Then things seemed to get serious. Data from the Dongying Municipal Health Commission showed that from the 22 to the 30, new asymptomatic patients of Covid-19 were found in Guangrao daily. The government launched a response policy in a short time. According to Guangrao residents, since the 23, some communities have asked people to stay at home, and some factories require closed-loop management.
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Sailun rising: China’s listed tyre companies ranked in 2022 Q3
Based on stock market reporting for the third quarter of 2022, the top nine Chinese listed tyre companies ranked by revenue are Sailun, Linglong, Triangle, Huayi (the holding company of Double Coin), Guizhou Tyre, Sentury, Aeolus, Jiangsu General, and Doublestar. (The leading Chinese tyre company according to Tyrepress global rankings is ZC Rubber (Hangzhou Zhongce), but it is not listed.) The figures show that Sailun has completed a meteoric rise this year to become the Chinese tyre industry’s stock market leader, with an income of more than 6 billion yuan in the quarter, putting it within reach of the global top 10 tyre manufacturers.
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Nokian Tyres investing 650 million euros in greenfield factory in Romania
Nokian Tyres’ is investing around 650 million euros in a new passenger car tyre factory in Romania. The new greenfield factory will be located in Oradea in the North-West of Romania, near the Hungarian border. The annual capacity of the factory will be 6 million tyres, with expansion potential for the future. According to an official statement, the site will also house a distribution facility for storage and distribution of tyres. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2023 and the first tyres are estimated to be produced in the second half of 2024. Commercial tyre production is expected to start in early 2025.
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Hankook Tyre UK award demonstrates ‘growing marketplace leadership’
Hankook’s Tyre Manufacturer of the Year winning entry at the NTDA Tyre Industry Awards “demonstrated, in great detail, its growing marketplace leadership in product, performance, innovation, productivity and sustainability,” according to NTDA chief executive Stefan Hay. The award was presented to Hankook Tyre UK’s sales director Paul Emery and marketing & communications manager Zoë Baldwin. Emery said: “We are a relatively small team at Hankook and are extremely proud that the UK tyre industry has recognised the strength of the Hankook business. This is truly a team effort and a team award.”
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Skidz award ‘demonstrates just what can be achieved when someone gives you a little bit of support’
Falkirk tyre retailer Skidz was named Tyre Retailer of the Year at the Tyre Industry Awards. The family-owned business, a member of the Michelin Quality Centre network, won the Small Tyre Retailer category for the best single location site, before going on to be crowned the NTDA’s overall winner ahead of the Medium Retailer (up to 25 centres) and Large Retailer (national chain) champions.
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Grupo Soledad reports record sales of 353 million euros for 2021
Sales turnover fell 15 per cent during 2020 at Iberian tyre retail and distribution specialists Grupo Soledad. However, figures rose 24 per cent in 2021, resulting in record sales of 353 million euros as well as profits of 13.7 million euros – both numbers suggesting that previous figures were a Covid-related blip and that the company is currently on a “V-shaped” recovery trajectory. Grupo Soledad’s previous sales record was 336 million euros in 2019.
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Chinese listed tyre companies release third-quarter results
At the end of October, several listed companies, including Linglong, Triangle, Sailun, Aeolus, Jiangsu General, Guizhou Tyre (Advance), Doulestar and Sentury, released their operating results for the third quarter. In the third quarter, Linglong produced 17,015,900 tyres and sold 16,623,600 tyres, with a revenue of about 4.37 billion yuan (about 520 million pounds, 600 million euros) and a net profit of about 110 million yuan (about 13.1 million pounds, 15.22 million euros).
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Nokian sells its Russian tyre operation to Tatneft for 400 million euros
Nokian Tyres plc has agreed to sell its Russian operations to Tatneft PJSC for approximately 400 million euros. The precise final purchase price will be affected by factors including net cash, working capital adjustment and foreign exchange rates. Confirming the news, Tatneft issued a one-paragraph statement saying the deal includes the plant in the city of Vsevolozhsk, in the region of Leningrad and that “the closing of the transaction and the purchase of assets is subject to a number of conditions, including obtaining approvals in accordance with Russian law.”
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Recent Western Europe car tyre production decline ‘similar to financial crisis’ years
Passenger car and light truck (PCLT) tyre production trends in Western Europe have been scaling down over the long-term. The move to larger production facilities in the comparatively low-cost labour markets in Eastern Europe, or greater reliance on imports from Asia, has seen a steady stream of plant closures and conversions to speciality, short-run production capacity – on in the case of Cooper Tire’s UK plant, for example, one followed by the other – in the region. A new assessment of the most recent three-year period by tyre industry analyst Astutus Research suggests that the overall picture has been of a decline similar to the period following the 2008 financial crisis, which was itself a catalyst for this trend. Yet digging a little deeper into the figures shows several dynamics at play in European PCLT tyre production, including supply chain disruption and spiralling energy costs. For comprehensive analysis of global tyre market trends, a series of reports by Astutus Research are available to buy now in the Tyrepress Reports Shop – click here for more details.
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Four tyre companies release September results
Recently, four Taiwanese tyre manufacturers, Cheng Shin, Nankang, Federal and Kenda, successively announced their September results. In September, Cheng Shin’s operating revenue was approximately NT$8.875 billion (about 244 million pounds, 280 million euros), an increase of 13.03 per cent over the same period last year.
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