With China now the largest car and tire producing marketing on earth, and with five Chinese tiremakers in the global top 20 its importance cannot be ignored.
In addition to scale, the largest Chinese manufacturers are increasingly investing in upping the standards of products they products, with their eyes on the global OE prize. The fact that import tariffs and labeling laws are coming and going in the midst of this means things are far from simple.
With this in mind, this year’s Reifen China exhibition in Shanghai will tell us about what is going on in the rest of the market.
When this year’s show opens its doors between Nov. 13-15 at the Shanghai New International Expo, the at least 120 exhibits will cover a total of 11,500 square metres.
As well as a wealth of domestic Chinese firms, exhibitors are travelling in from all over the world including: Belgium, Germany, Russia, Netherlands, Malaysia, U.S., UAE, Poland, Japan, India, U.K. and Thailand. All this is expected to draw in an estimated 11,000 visitors.
In a demonstration of the show’s influence, all of the top 15 Chinese tire manufacturers will participate by showing their respective ranges passenger car commercial vehicle, earthmover, agricultural and industrial tires.
Another detail worth highlighting along this vein is the fact that Reifen China’s reputation as the place to contact manufacturers directly is sustained once again this year with 45% of exhibits promoting tire manufacturers while another 40% represent was trading companies.
This year the show organizers are particularly pointing out the presence of motorcycle tiremakers and – in what is a development for the show – an increased emphasis on retreading. Before one or two specialist retreading equipment manufacturers were visible, but now we are told to expect retreaded tire manufactures and repair material companies to be “the new highlight of the show.” (Tyres & Accessories)
