They’re back, and it won’t be too long before they may be heading your way.
China Daily reported today that the brand new Double Coin Holdings/Groupe Michelin project in China began turning out Warrior brand passenger radials on Aug. 28.
It’s been two years, the newspaper noted, since the popular domestic brand has been produced.
The joint venture Double Coin Group (Anhui) Warrior Tires Co.’s $505 million plant is located in the Anhui Industrial Park, some 300 miles from Shanghai, and is now producing three Warrior lines covering 26 SKUs. According to the newspaper, the tires will target the “growing demand from medium- and high-end consumers” in China.
In an interview with Tire Review at last year’s Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show,) Double Coin Holding chairman Liu Xun Feng said product from the joint venture facility would first address domestic OE and replacement needs, with the potential for Warrior tires being exported to North America as early as 2013.
The company is 40% owned by Michelin and 60% owned by Double Coin and its parent, Shanghai Huayi. The Michelin-designed plant has an initial capacity of six million passenger and light truck/SUV radials that Liu said “will not be entry level tires.”
