Beleaguered wholesale and tyre services company Kings Road Tyres is now in administration, with KPMG appointed joint administrators. The administration comes at the end of nearly a decade of turbulence for the company, which is one of the UK’s oldest tyre wholesale operations, having been incorporated in 1959.
The vast majority of Sailun Jinyu Group shareholders have approved the adoption of a new company name and changes to the company’s articles of association. Votes held during an extraordinary meeting of shareholders on 12 October resulted in a 99.1 per cent turnout in favour of both measures. The tyre maker will thus adopt the name Sailun Group Co., Ltd.
At a meeting held yesterday, the Board of Directors of Sailun Jinyu Group Co. Ltd. approved a change of the company’s name to Sailun Group Co., Ltd.
In 2016, Cooper Tire & Rubber invested some US$93 million to acquire a 65 per cent shareholding in Qingdao Ge Rui Da Rubber Co., Ltd (GRT). The remaining 35 per cent share in the China-based truck and bus radial manufacturing operation was retained by Qingdao Yiyuan Investment Co., Ltd. (QYI), however QYI is now selling its stake in the business. Sailun Jinyu Group Co., Ltd. has signed a share transfer agreement with QYI to acquire its 35 per cent interest in GRT for RMB 220 million (£24.4 million, US$32.0 million), subject to government approval.
Birmingham headquartered OTR, industrial, construction, and agricultural tyre supplier, Maxam has created what it calls a “first of its kind”, the MS708 solid OTR tyre. The MS708 features “zero maintenance” solid construction, long tread life, high heat resistance, superior wear and cut resistance, softer ride, self-cleaning tread and mounts on standard multi-piece earthmover rims.
Two of Sailun Jinyu International Europe’s tyre brands will now be distributed by wholesalers Viking Wholesaler Tyres and Bond International following a major strategic review of its UK distribution operations. The manufacturer pronounced itself “delighted to announce a number of enhancements and improvements” for its portfolio, which includes the Sailun, Jinyu, Blacklion, and Rovelo brands. The new strategy has become effective immediately, SJI Europe added.
The management of Kings Road Tyres Group (KRTG) has welcomed the well-known wholesaler’s return to private ownership after reaching agreement to conclude its contractual arrangements with the Sailun Jinyu Group.
Sailun Jinyu Group has announced that it sold its Kings Road Tyres Group (KRT Group) tyre wholesale subsidiary to KRT Holdings Ltd in a November Shanghai stock market statement.
As of the end of May, Gareth Passmore has stepped down as president of Sailun Jinyu International (SJI). The company reports that Passmore left the company due to “family and personal” reasons.
The bottom line at China’s Sailun Jinyu Group Co Ltd took a hit in the first quarter of 2017. According to preliminary statistics provided by its financial department, the tyre maker anticipates a net loss attributable to shareholders in the vicinity of RMB 50 million (-£5.65 million). In the same three-month period a year earlier, the company reported a net profit of RMB 95.16 million (£10.76 million).
The latest CRIA data, which was released by Chinese tyre industry association CRIA on 12 April, shows that Zhongce Rubber Group (also known as ZC Rubber) remains the number tyre manufacturer in China in terms of income, with 2016 sales of 18.38 billion yuan (RMB). Giti Tire’s Chinese operation (Giti Tire [China] Investment Co., Ltd.) trails by more than 6 billion yuan, but is a clear second place with 13.14 billion yuan in 2016 ahead of Sailun Jinyu Group, which reported income of 11.19 billion yuan last year.
At the beginning of November Sailun Jinyu International (SJI) appointed Gareth Passmore as its president for Europe. He replaced Martin West, who has been appointed global president of the SJI Speciality Tire Group. Passmore, who started on 1 December 2016, is now responsible for all operations throughout Europe across all of the Sailun Jinyu Group brand portfolio – Sailun, Jinyu, Black Lion and Rovelo. Passmore brings with him over 25 years of tyre industry experience, including time with Continental, Apollo (in South Africa) and latterly with Sumitomo Rubber Industries where he headed up the Falken brand’s European export operations. During a recent brand and winter tyre product demonstration event in Sweden, Tyres & Accessories caught up with Passmore and at the same time we were introduced to Sailun’s ambitious goal of becoming a top 10 tyre manufacturer in the years to come.
Sailun Jinyu Group reports that the first all-steel TBR tyre was manufactured in its new factory in Vietnam on 24 November. In announcing the news, the China-based tyre maker notes that it decided to erect a second plant at its Sailun (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. site in order to combat the tariffs in place in the USA. It began work on the factory on 14 March 2016 and produced the first tyre just over eight months later.
Sailun Jinyu International (SJI) has appointed Gareth Passmore as its president for Europe. He replaces Martin West, who has been appointed global president of the SJI Speciality Tire Group. Passmore will be responsible for all operations throughout Europe of the four brands within the Sailun Jinyu Group portfolio – Sailun, Jinyu, Black Lion and Rovelo. He will join Sailun on 1 December 2016, and be based at the SJI European Operations Centre in Birmingham, after relocating to the UK.
Sailun states that it has boosted sales growth and market share “in many European countries” since the introduction of its new car and truck tyre distribution strategy in 2011. The cornerstones of this strategy, which the manufacturer describes as “relatively simple” with “several key interlocking components”, including the full range of Sailun car, truck and bus, summer, winter, and all-season tyres will be demonstrated on the Sailun stand at Reifen 2016: Hall 7, stand 7D20.
