Premium tyre manufacturers taking the lead in Russia
It is apparent that the Russian tyre market is one of the most vibrant and emerging in Europe. Not only is this market, with a volume of 40 million passenger car tyres (replacement market) among the largest of the world (and soon will even overtake the German tyre market, traditionally Europe’s strongest), the position of market players in the competitive environment that is the Russian tyre market is changing, and new players are taking over from the well-established. While Russian tyre manufacturers are struggling to position themselves and their products in the profitable branded market segments, companies such as Nokian Tyres and Continental, along with Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear continue to dominate the game with their premium and secondary tyre brands (e.g. Gislaved from Continental). These manufacturers are successful in increasing their relevance to the Russian tyre market to a large extent because they benefit from controlled distribution, as the example of Nokian shows.
Continue ReadingSameer’s Yana Tyres Struggling to Take Off
Sameer Africa recently raised its tyre prices by between four and six per cent, the Nairobi Nation reports. However, price increases are unlikely to help sales of the manufacturers Yana brand. Local news reports that stiff competition from cheap imports, especially from the Korea, Egypt and South Africa have left the company at a disadvantage, following the price increase. Kenya has no competitive advantage, and you can get any tyre you want from China at any price, managing director Eric Kimani told journalists. The influx of imported tyres from these destinations reportedly increased significantly in 2005, following the introduction of the East African Communitys (EAC) Common External Tariff (CET). Under the CET, the EAC member states (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) agreed to a common tax rate of 10 per cent on imports of new rubber tyres for buses and lorries. Initially, the import duty on tyres stood at between 25 and 35 per cent as a way of protecting local manufacturers.
Continue ReadingPlanned Bekaert Facility to Meet Russian Tyremakers’ Needs
Demand in Russia for the steel cord used to reinforce tyres is rising, and to meet this growing market Bekaert has taken the decision to invest in a new production facility in the country’s Lipetsk Special Economic Zone. More than 97 million euros will be invested in this project in a series of stages over the period 2008 to 2013, with the first stage scheduled to enter production in 2010. The Lipetsk region, about 400 kilometres south of Moscow, is strategically located close to the target markets, reports Bekaert, and features good logistics, ready access to energy supplies and a skilled labour force. Bekaert already has an established portfolio of customers in Russia, including tyre manufacturers. These Russian customers are currently being supplied by factories in Central Europe.
Continue ReadingFormer Goodyear Division Forms China Joint Venture
Veyance Technologies Inc., formerly Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s Engineered Products division, has entered into a joint venture with Ruiyuan Rubber and Plastics Co. Ltd. to make conveyor belts in Yanzhou, China. Veyance said the new entity, Shandong Aneng Conveyor Belt & Rubber Co. Ltd., is the largest manufacturer of conveyor belts in China, with 20 production lines producing more than 12 million square metres of conveyor belts each year.
Continue ReadingTwice as much in half the time – Giti’s plan to penetrate European tyre market in five years
Goodyear and Michelin penetration into Europe took a few decades, Bridgestone more than halved that, Hankook and Kumho did it in about 12 years, Giti Tire want to do it in five. The largest Chinese manufacturers are growing quickly, they have their sights set breaking into the US and Europe, and what’s more they plan to do it quicker than any company has before. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories, Dr Enki Tan predicted that Giti Tire will soon be known as the manufacturer to emerge from China. Giti is already a global scale operation, with 2007 sales totalling the best part of $2 billion. And while the fact that the group’s holding company is registered in Singapore means it can’t be officially be called a Chinese domiciled manufacturer, semantics can’t stop Giti from being the largest manufacturer of tyres in China. The company’s biggest production base is in Hefei, Anhui province (not a long way from where Continental recently announced it will build a Greenfield site of its own). The manufacturing complex here employs around 6400 staff and covers some 1.11 million square metres – only 350,000 m2 of which is currently covered. At the end of 2007 production totalled 34,000 passenger/light truck, 6500 truck and bus, and 4000 bias tyres per day.
Continue Reading“Smuggled” Tyres Trouble Pakistan Retail Market
Tyre retailers in Lahore, Pakistan have noticed a sharp increase in the number of “smuggled” tyres from India, China, and Dubai, causing putting locally produced brands at a disadvantage, according to The Post. One report suggested that the illegal business continues unchecked in the city, “perhaps in connivance with the law-enforcing agencies”. When asked, Bismillah Tyres at Ravioli Cinema told The Post that in earlier days, the profit margin was not as good but now, “we are doing a roaring business. It is because every other family has their own car,” he said.
Continue ReadingSentaida International Acquires ZT Wholesale
The Zisser Tire Company has entered into an agreement with Sentaida International for the purchase of the Zisser Tire Wholesale operation. The acquisition by Sentaida International will be limited to Zisser’s wholesale division, and the transaction is scheduled to be completed on November 21. Sentaida International, part of the China based Sentaida Group, is currently headquartered in Southern California and owns the private brands Sentaida and Delinte. It also acts as the agent for a number of brands in the US, including Linglong UHP.
Continue ReadingBekaert Acquisition Talks in Russia Abandoned
Following several months of negotiations Bekaert has opted to withdraw from talks with Russian firm ZAO Uralkord regarding a possible takeover. The Russian manufacturer, located in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, produces steel cord products for domestic tyre manufacturers and was viewed as a suitable vehicle through which the Belgian firm could strengthen its position in Russia. As recently as late July Bekaert CEO Bert De Graeve told media that the group was hopeful of closing a deal by the end of the year, adding that about 50 million euros had been offered for the purchase of Uralkord. Despite this optimism, the deal fell through within three months of De Graeve’s announcement. The reason for this, Bekaert outlined in a statement, is that during “the course of the difficult and protracted negotiations, it became clear that no agreement could be reached with the current shareholders of ZAO Uralkord that would meet Bekaert’s criteria for pursuing its strategy of sustainable profitable growth in Russia.”
Continue ReadingNokian Tyres Confirms Kazakhstan Negotiations
Nokian Tyres has officially confirmed the rumours that it is negotiating a factory project in Kazakhstan. The company reports that negotiations are ongoing, and as of August 24 no agreements have been made. Nokian aims to finalise the negotiation project before the end of the year. According to previous information supplied to Tyres & Accessories, Nokian tyres may be manufactured at the US$200 million factory being built in the national capital by Kazakhstan’s Ordabasy Corporation. This new plant will have an annual capacity of 4 million tyres when in full production.
Continue ReadingIran Designs Nano Tyres
Irans Polymer and Petrochemical Institute incorporated “highly friction-resistant” nanotechnology into the development of vehicle and aircraft tyres. According to a Meridian Institute report, Iranian researcher Mohammad Karrabi said: “In this method, the frictional resistance of tyres has been increased through calculating the mechanical characteristics of them. Lower rolling resistance and higher frictional resistance will lead to less fuel consumption.” He also said that the use of nanotechnology will help Irans automobile manufacturers compete in the market. The project, which was launched with support from the Presidential Office last year, will be completed by next year.
Continue ReadingKumho Consolidating in China
(Rubber Asia/sg) The aggressive forays of Korean tyre major Kumho into China, carried out with a view to establishing the country as its major overseas production base, will go a long way towards realising the company’s vision to emerge as the world’s 5th largest tyre maker by 2015. The booming Chinese tyre market is to become the most important overseas production base for the Kumho Tire Company, if its ongoing activities, the latest being the recent launch of its US$220 million wholly-owned radial truck/bus project in the Nanjing Economic and Technical Development Zone, are any indication. This is the Korean’s fourth major Chinese project, and the company hopes to ultimately produce 1.4 million tyres there annually. The groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed plant was held in May, and the first phase of the project, with an installed capacity of 300,000 tyres per year, is expected to go on stream by June 2008.
Continue ReadingHankook’s Explosive Growth
With so much recent media coverage of Hankook’s European activities and new state of the art facility in Hungary, it is easy to forget that Europe is only one market in which the South Korean tyremaker has plans. And while those living in Europe will naturally pay more attention to activities taking place close to home, Hankook is by no means neglecting its Asian markets, and is in fact paying particular attention to China. Recently Tyres & Accessories was given the opportunity to interview Hankook global CEO Suh Seung Hwa and find out more about the company’s aims for the large and still growing Chinese tyre market. “China is a vibrant market,” declared Mr. Suh when asked if Hankook’s recent activity in Europe signalled any shift in priorities. He added that the tyremaker expected a large increase in sales from its Chinese operations in 2007. Between 2002 and 2004 the Chinese tyre market experienced what Mr. Suh called “explosive growth,” and by 2006 the passenger car tyre market was still increasing by more than 15 per cent per year, the largest growth of any market the tyremaker participates in.
Continue ReadingGiti Tire Europe – Link Into Europe
Since several years Chinese tyre manufacturers are active on the European tyre market. Although their commitment has been increasing over these years until today there has not been a tyre manufacturer from China that has founded its own representation in Europe which is for example different in the US. Giti Tire Europe B.V. is established in The Netherlands and does not only represent Giti Tire from China but also Gajah Tunggal from Indonesia which belongs to the same corporate group. In doing this, Giti Tire Europe acts as a link between wholesalers such as Romney International, Reifen Gundlach or Doumerc Pneus and the tyre manufacturers Giti Tire China and Gajah Tunggal. Secondly, it acts as an antenna into the European market that detects and collects information and forwards them to China and Indonesia. And thirdly, it is assigned to increase the general coverage of the European markets. Under the direction of well-experienced managers from throughout the continent Giti Tire Europe in particular looks towards the East where markets have an excellent chance to be developed and it also looks towards European OE customers.
Continue ReadingOverview: Qingdao Doublestar Tire Industrial
The Qingdao Doublestar Tire Industrial Co., Ltd., which is based in Qingdao (Shandong province), is one of several Chinese tyre manufacturers undergoing strong expansion. The company was founded in 1996 and belongs to the Double Star group that mainly produces the Doublestar brand, but also a secondary brand called Huaqing.
Continue ReadingOfficial Ceremony Marks Opening of Yokohama India
The Yokohama Rubber Co. took a further step into the Indian market on July 27 when it officially marked the opening of its new subsidiary, Yokohama India. Company, industry, governmental and media representatives assembled at a hotel in New Delhi commemorate the occasion. Yokohama Rubber board director and senior managing corporate officer Takashi Sugimoto and board director and corporate officer Tooru Kobayashi represented the parent company at the ceremony. Prior to this year Yokohama Rubber marketed passenger car tyres in India through its Singapore based tyre distributor. The transition to an India based operation began with the founding of Yokohama India in April 2007, and from now onwards the company plans to transfer sales activities to the new subsidiary, from where it will implement its own independent sales strategy. The company reports that Yokohama India will kick things off with an emphasis on the high performance passenger car market, an area in which the company believes to be a particular area of strength. This initial activity will include the Indian launch of the company’s premium ADVAN brand and other high-performance tyres and an intense supporting advertising campaign through car magazines and other media. From here Yokohama India will broaden its focus to the wider market.
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