On 20 February 2023, the board of directors of Doublestar reviewed and approved the proposal to build a factory in Cambodia. The tyre manufacturer reportedly plans to establish a joint venture with UBE Development Co., Ltd in order to complete the plans.
Recently, several tyre manufacturers have released recruitment information, which is not enough to be strong evidence that China’s tyre industry is gradually recovering. However, the recruitment information shows that some Chinese tyre companies have not hesitated in the challenging environment.
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.
Zhang Zhentao, deputy general manager of Doublestar, submitted a written resignation application to the board of directors recently. Doublestar confirmed that Zhang Zhentao is not employed by company following his resignation, but did not disclose where he is working now. Zhang Zhentao is mainly engaged in financial work and has served as the deputy general manager of Doublestar since May 2020. Before that, he was part of the financial management of Tsingtao Brewery.
For the first time since being acquired by China’s Doublestar four years ago, Kumho Tire has published an annual report. Under the title ‘Up and Running’, the South Korean tyre maker reports on the course of the 2021 business year, which the manufacturer closed with a turnover of KRW 2.6 trillion won (£1.65 billion), a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent.
Aeolus and Doublestar recently reported operating results for the first half of 2022. Both show sharp declines in net profits for the two companies that have controlling interests in global tyremakers Prometeon and Kumho respectively.
Chinese listed tyre companies have successively released their 2021 annual reports in recent weeks. Here, Tyrepress analyses these annual reports’ comparing developments in revenue, operating conditions and overseas factory strategy. And the short story is Linglong remains the largest tyremaker amongst the top 10 listed Chinese tyre companies and that Sailun is the fastest growing.
The Doublestar Group reports that it has signed a cooperation agreement with information and communications company Huawei. According to information posted by Doublestar, the partners will utilise their respective strengths to develop the infrastructure for a 5G network over which tyre pressure, temperature and wear data can be transmitted and shared between vehicles and companies in real-time.
Triangle Tyre expresses pride in its comeback as a top-ten consumer tyre brand in the China Brand Power Index (C-BPI) 2020. The brand occupies ninth place, ahead of domestic rivals such as Warrior, Chaoyang, Giti and Linglong.
It was a difficult birth. As regular visitors to this site are well aware, Qingdao Doublestar Co Ltd.’s acquisition of Kumho Tire was punctuated by more than its share of complications: Threats of mass resignations, bickering over brand name use and questions about financing all belonged to the experience.
Buried within the more than 134 pages of Qingdao Doublestar’s latest semi-annual report is the news that the state-owned tyre maker will extend China’s ‘one belt, one road’ strategy by working with a local partner to establish a tyre production facility in Algeria. The Chinese-language document states that its subsidiary Hong Kong Doublestar signed a joint venture agreement with El Hadj Larbi Pneumatiques during the reporting period.
Qingdao Doublestar Tire, owner of Kumho Tire since July 2018, has once again grown through an acquisition. The Chinese tyre maker says it has completed the purchase of Shandong Hengyu Technology Co., Ltd. for RMB 899 million (£103.1 million). Doublestar disclosed in March that it had signed an agreement with Hengyu Technology’s administrator to acquire 100 per cent equity in the business.
Kumho Tire plans to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) at the end of April 2019, according to South Korean company filings.
It may not be the best-selling Korean tyre brand worldwide, but at home Kumho outsells its domestic rivals. Data from the Korea Tire Manufacturers Association (KOTMA) indicates that 6.52 million replacement market Kumho tyres were sold in South Korea in 2018. This is more than 40 per cent of all locally-made tyres sold in the country.
Doublestar
Austin Diste; Unsplash
Andreas Felske; Unsplash
Sailun
Doublestar
Doublestar
Mylene2401; Pixabay
Stephen Goodchild