NEUE REIFENZEITUNG Extrabeilage/China ... - Reifenpresse.de
NEUE REIFENZEITUNG Extrabeilage/China ... - Reifenpresse.de
NEUE REIFENZEITUNG Extrabeilage/China ... - Reifenpresse.de
Sie wollen auch ein ePaper? Erhöhen Sie die Reichweite Ihrer Titel.
YUMPU macht aus Druck-PDFs automatisch weboptimierte ePaper, die Google liebt.
ment tyre market. For this reason, Cooper Tire & Rubber adapted<br />
its growth strategy to these changing corporate goals, and entered<br />
into a joint venture with Kenda which led into the construction<br />
of a greenfield factory for passenger car and light truck tyres in<br />
<strong>China</strong>, and Cooper also took over Shandong Chengshan.<br />
Cooper and Kenda – equal partners<br />
Both Cooper and Kenda began producing tyres in their new factory<br />
in Kunshan, close to Shanghai, at the end of February this<br />
year. The 50:50 joint venture itself was signed at the end of 2003.<br />
As Cooper CEO and presi<strong>de</strong>nt Roy V. Armes announced on the<br />
occasion of the late production start in February (originally production<br />
was scheduled to begin at the end of 2006), the American<br />
and Taiwanese partners will eventually produce up to 10 or 12<br />
million PCR and LTR tyres in the new factory. According to the<br />
agreement between Cooper and Kenda, tyres produced at Kunshan<br />
will exclusively be exported for the first five years. Whether<br />
or not this will also be the case when production is fully running<br />
remains to be seen. However, because the Chinese PC tyre<br />
market is currently suffering from significant overproduction<br />
Cooper’s and Kenda’s <strong>de</strong>cision to only export tyres from Kunshan<br />
seems to be a suitable measure. According to media sources<br />
both companies are going to invest up to<br />
US$200 million in their joint venture factory.<br />
Cooper followed a different approach with<br />
the takeover of Shandong Chengshan. Their<br />
production capacities – and their distribution<br />
network on the Chinese replacement market<br />
– are mainly utilised to serve the local market.<br />
Since the end of 2003 Cooper Tire &<br />
Rubber has invested as much as US$70 million<br />
to gain a majority share in Shandong<br />
Chengshan Tire Co. Ltd. and now operates<br />
the production facilities in the city of Rongchen<br />
(Shandong province) un<strong>de</strong>r two new legal<br />
entities: Cooper Chengshan (Shandong)<br />
Passenger Tire Co. Ltd. and Cooper Chengshan<br />
(Shandong) Truck Tire Co. Ltd. But<br />
Cooper not only gained 51 per cent of the<br />
Chinese firm’s tyre production; it also obtained<br />
25 per cent of a steel-cord factory that<br />
Chengshan operates in Rongchen. However,<br />
the steel cord operations may not be in<br />
Cooper’s hands for much longer. According<br />
in million units/<br />
in Millionen Stück<br />
to recent reports the steel giant Arcelor Mittal has shown interest<br />
in purchasing the facility. When the takeover was officially approved<br />
by the Chinese authorities in February 2006, Chengshan<br />
was the third largest Chinese tyre producer still in Chinese<br />
hands. In 2005 it produced up to 6.5 million tyres and has generated<br />
an annual turnover of US$450 million. The manufacturer<br />
mainly produces two brands: Chengshan and Austone.<br />
Currently Cooper is investing in Rongchen in or<strong>de</strong>r to<br />
upgra<strong>de</strong> the local production technology to Cooper’s high standards.<br />
The American company is already sourcing smaller Cooper<br />
sizes from this location, some of which are exported to Europe.<br />
Cooper has also announced its R&D staff are currently <strong>de</strong>veloping<br />
a special Cooper product line which best suits the <strong>de</strong>mands<br />
of the Chinese replacement market. These tyres will of course<br />
33<br />
30<br />
27<br />
24<br />
21<br />
18<br />
15<br />
12<br />
9<br />
6<br />
3<br />
0<br />
samen Pkw- und Llkw-Reifenfabrik in <strong>China</strong> beschlossen und an<strong>de</strong>rerseits<br />
die Mehrheit an Shandong Chengshan übernommen.<br />
Cooper und Kenda – gleiche Partner<br />
Die Partner Cooper und Kenda haben die gemeinsame Reifenfabrik<br />
in Kunshan in <strong>de</strong>r Nähe von Shanghai En<strong>de</strong> Februar dieses<br />
Jahres in Betrieb genommen; das 50:50-Jointventure wur<strong>de</strong> En<strong>de</strong><br />
2003 gegrün<strong>de</strong>t. Wie Coopers CEO und Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Roy Armes<br />
anlässlich <strong>de</strong>s verspäteten Produktionsbeginns – geplant war <strong>de</strong>r<br />
Beginn ursprünglich für En<strong>de</strong> 2006 – betonte, wer<strong>de</strong> die Fabrik<br />
<strong>de</strong>r amerikanischen und taiwanesischen Partner schlussendlich<br />
eine Kapazität von zehn bis zwölf Millionen Pkw- und Llkw-Reifen<br />
haben. Die in Kunshan produzierten Reifen seien allerdings für<br />
zunächst fünf Jahre ausnahmslos für <strong>de</strong>n Export nach Nordamerika<br />
und Europa bestimmt, so die Ankündigung <strong>de</strong>r Partner. Ob<br />
dies aber bei voller Auslastung <strong>de</strong>r Produktionskapazität noch so<br />
ist, bleibt abzuwarten. Da aber <strong>de</strong>r chinesische Reifenmarkt, gera<strong>de</strong><br />
was Pkw- und Llkw-Reifen betrifft, unter Überkapazitäten lei<strong>de</strong>t,<br />
ist die aktuelle Vorgehensweise <strong>de</strong>s amerikanischen Konzerns<br />
durchaus nachzuvollziehen. Die Partner investieren Medienberichten<br />
zufolge rund 200 Millionen US-Dollar in die Fabrik.<br />
An<strong>de</strong>rs sieht die Vorgehensweise allerdings beim übernom-<br />
Production capacities in <strong>China</strong><br />
Produktionskapazitäten in <strong>China</strong><br />
Kumho<br />
Bridgestone<br />
Goodyear<br />
Giti Tire<br />
Hankook<br />
Michelin<br />
Cheng Shin/Maxxis<br />
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011<br />
Source/Quelle: Kumho Tyres & Accessories/<strong>NEUE</strong> ReifenZeitung 8/2007<br />
menen Hersteller Shandong Chengshan aus, <strong>de</strong>ssen Produktionskapazitäten<br />
– und Han<strong>de</strong>lsbeziehungen – vorwiegend für<br />
<strong>de</strong>n heimischen chinesischen Markt genutzt wer<strong>de</strong>n. Cooper hatte<br />
ab En<strong>de</strong> 2003 für rund 70 Millionen Dollar die Mehrheitsanteile<br />
am chinesischen Hersteller Shandong Chengshan Tire Co. Ltd.<br />
übernommen, um <strong>de</strong>ssen Pkw- und Lkw-Reifenfabrik als Cooper<br />
Chengshan (Shandong) Passenger Tire Co. Ltd. und als Cooper<br />
Chengshan (Shandong) Truck Tire Company, Ltd. weiterzuführen.<br />
Neben <strong>de</strong>n 51 Prozent Anteil an <strong>de</strong>m Reifenfabrik-Jointventure<br />
erhielt Cooper ebenfalls 25 Prozent Anteil an einer Stahlcordfabrik,<br />
die in <strong>de</strong>r Stadt Rongchen (Provinz Shandong) neben <strong>de</strong>r<br />
Reifenfabrik ansässig ist. Aktuellen Berichten zufolge bietet <strong>de</strong>r<br />
indische Stahlproduzent Arcelor Mittal <strong>de</strong>rzeit für die Übernahme<br />
<strong>de</strong>r Cooper-Stahlcordfabrik in Rongchen. Shandong Chengshan<br />
19