In the middle of November, ZC Rubber opened its second flagship Westlake tyre retail outlet in Mexico. According to the company, the opening took place after months of preparation. Vice president of ZC Rubber Guorong Ge attended the opening ceremony and hosted a dealer meeting with the local Westlake dealer the same day.
ZC Rubber Group Co. Ltd., (ZC Rubber) China’s largest domestically owned tyre manufacturer, has established a Brazilian subsidiary company – ZC Rubber Brazil Importation and Exportation (ZC Brazil). The new company is located in San Paulo, Brazil’s capital city and economic centre. The subsidiary, overseen by Guorong Ge, ZC Rubber vice president, sales reportedly focuses on supporting the local distribution channel, developing new products for the local market and after-sales service for the wider South American market.
Compared with other international tyres, ZC Rubber reports that its Goodride Sport SA-37 has “obvious advantages”, especially in terms of wet braking test and with relation to the 225/45 R17 size.
On 29 June ZC Rubber Group hosted the grand opening ceremony of ZC Rubber Thailand, the leading Chinese manufacturers’ first overseas manufacturing subsidiary, located in Rayong, Thailand. At the same time the company’s top executives took the opportunity to announce the foundation of new TBR production line in order to meet ”the quickly increasing demand on medium and heavy truck tyres from Southeast Asia and South Asia. ZC Rubber will keep on the globalization strategy for a better future.”
Ge Guorong, vice president of Zhongce Rubber Group (known as ZC Rubber), visited Thailand for an update on construction progress of ZC Rubber Thailand factory in March.
This year’s annual tyre manufacturer rankings have brought with them a number of key changes at the top of the table. The growth of Far Eastern manufacturers and Chinese companies in particular has long been observed, but 2014 sees Singapore-based Giti Tire break into the top 10 and Taiwan-based Maxxis/Cheng Shin Rubber retains its ninth position. Hot on Giti’s heels, 11th place ZC Rubber (producer of the Westlake brand) gained one place from its position in last year’s table. Indeed this part of the table is extremely close and, such is the competition at this level, if ZC Rubber had achieved the same figures as last year (assuming no-one else had done any better and excluding currency effects) it could have been in 10th position.
Representatives of the Westlake truck tyre brand in the UK have announced plans to appoint between eight and 10 UK-based agents for the brand produced by leading Chinese tyre manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber.
According to the company, the new distribution network will be comprised of partners that are independent, established commercial retread processers, retailers, tyre repairers or casing dealers. Once the right partners are identified Westlake is understood to be offering to agree “appropriate and exclusive territory” such as North East, North West with the right companies.
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