Firm Anticipates Large OTR Exports to Asia – With Help

Returning to the news pages once again is American Tire Corp., the company recently noted for announcing the construction of a half-billion dollar OTR tyre plant in the U.S., its rejection of a substantial corporate acquisition offer from an anonymous corporation, and, most recently the announcement of no price increases for 2008.

The latest news from the enigmatic manufacturer is that its Colorado brand OTR tyres have been introduced into the Asian market.

The company states that, from the beginning of 2008, 35-, 49-, 51- and 57-inch sizes from its Colorado range will be shipped to unnamed Asian countries. Indeed, ATC claims that it will “possibly” export more than $100 million worth of Colorado OTR tyres to Asia during the course of 2008.

“Several containers of Colorado brand 35- and 49-inch OTR tyres have been shipped for users in South Asia and Middle East,” said the company in a statement. “Dozen [sic] of containers of such tyres and larger will be shipped to the same area in the first quarter of 2008.

“This is the first time for ATC to contribute directly to Asian countries,” the statement continues. “This market is previously occupied by Japanese, French, Russian and Chinese tyres. According to the current market of OTR tyres in Asia, Russian and Chinese tires are successively losing their traditional market. ATC will possibly export more than US$100 million’s [sic] Colorado OTR tyres to Asia in the coming 10 months.”

The U.S.-based company believes entry into the Asian market to be both an opportunity and a challenge, mainly as it will have to directly face “French” and “Japanese” competition there.

However the ATC press release hints at support from official channels, although it is unclear what this means: "With supports [sic] from the U.S. government and ATC’s engineers, Asian users will see Colorado OTR tyre advantages accordingly." (Tyres & Accessories/Staffordshire, U.K.)