Intense competition between old and new companies on the eve of global tire industry restructuring

The possibility of reorganization of large tire companies has increased. The opportunity stems from competition around the rapidly growing emerging market countries. With the rise of emerging companies, an offensive and defensive battle will soon begin.

In February 2014, Yokohama Rubber signed a technical cooperation agreement with Korea’s Kumho Tire . In June, the two companies had just reached an agreement on the development of tire environmental protection technologies. However, Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.’s vision of Yan Tian’s vision was to invest in the further future.

"It goes without saying that capital cooperation, if both sides feel favorable, the merger will be OK. I want to use the holding company's form, retaining the two brands is also an option."

Kumho’s sales are 60% of Yokohama Rubber. The company has experienced bankruptcy and is a company with a "spot". In view of this, this cooperation has not received much praise.

But Yokohama rubber does not mind. Two years ago, the company’s president, Nan Yun Zhongxin, met with Park San-keung, president of Kumho’s parent company Kumho Asiana Group. With the deepening of the exchange, Nanyun understood the technical strength of Kumho.

When Japan's time-honored companies and South Korean start-ups began to interact on the premise of "marriage", it was the day when two companies decided to part-way.

"What are they thinking?"

In the middle of the night of February 13th, when he was contacted by the company, the senior management of the Sumitomo Rubber Industry was overwhelmed - the company’s partner, Goodyear, had published information on the Internet to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the data Goodyear wrote: "Because of the clear anti-competitive behavior of Sumitomo Rubber, we will terminate the partnership."

This has early warning. About a month ago, Goodyear proposed an application for cooperation, and Sumitomo Rubber had encountered a blow when it was preparing to negotiate a friendly breakup. Sumitomo Rubber immediately submitted a rebuttal to the international arbitration agency.

In 1999, in the eyes of the envy of other companies, the two companies "happy hand", spent 15 years of sweet time. However, the final outcome was a sad divorce drama.

Difficult emerging country strategy

Now, the global tire industry is precarious. The core of the oscillation is emerging market countries. According to Mizuho Bank’s forecast, in 2020, the world’s new car sales will expand to 98.61 million. Although markets in Japan, North America, and Europe have stagnated, sales in emerging market countries will soar to 59.4 million vehicles, which is 1.5 times that in 2010. The growing middle class in China and India will play a leading role.

“In emerging market countries, we must first take the initiative” (Shin Muhammad, President, Toyo Rubber Industries). In the face of the future “golden hill”, major companies are coveted, but for now, no one company has successfully overcome the new market.

Tires are divided into new car tires that are sold to auto companies for wholesale, and replacement tires that are retailed at tire sales stores, gas stations, and so on. In developed countries, the ratio of the two is 6:4, and the sales of new car tires are mostly, while in emerging market countries where the used car circulation is huge, it is better to replace the tires. The demand for global tires in 2020 is 2.1 billion, of which only 450 million are new car tires. The replacement of tires is 1.66 billion, which is more than three times that of the former.

Therefore, emerging market countries cannot apply developed country strategies that focus on auto companies. Because most consumers do not look at the brand when choosing a replacement tire, Bridgestone, France's Michelin, and Goodyear’s Big Three share only 1-3% in the Chinese market.

Faced with this situation, big companies certainly will not sit still. To increase sales of replacement tires, retail outlets must give priority to their own tire products.

To this end, Bridgestone has opened more than 300 "Wing Wing" chain stores in China. These stores not only sell tires. The brand will also be promoted through independent customer services such as providing free periodic inspections.

Flaming fire outside the scope of cooperation

On the other hand, Sumitomo Rubber's chain stores in China will increase from the current 570 to 1,000 in 2015. There are also more than 650 chain stores in India.

The original cooperation between Sumitomo Rubber and Goodyear was based on Goodluck's production and sales of Sumitomo Rubber's main brand, DUNLOP, in North America and Europe. Sumitomo Rubber also sold the "Goodyear" brand in Japan. Therefore, "Since 10 years ago, Sumitomo Rubber has focused its development on areas outside North America and Europe in order to avoid slamming the market with Goodyear."

However, ironically, some good intentions turned into a kind of friction. In the emerging market countries outside the cooperation framework, Sumitomo Rubber's "Dunlop" and Goodyear's competition are getting more and more, and the relationship between the two has started to become tense.

Senior Matsumoto Bongyu, senior analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities, calculated that the loss of the cooperation to Sumitomo Rubber was equivalent to sales of 50 to 60 billion yen and operating profits of 13.0 billion yen. Although the impact is not small, Matsumoto pointed out that "if we continue to expand the business of emerging market countries according to the current momentum, we can recover the losses within 3 to 5 years." In Matsumoto's view, if we look at the medium and long term, the lifting of cooperation will help to strengthen the business foundation of Sumitomo Rubber.

After opening ground warfare through the addition of shops, there are companies that boldly launched air battles. In May 2014, Serie A staged the Milan Derby. In the television broadcast, the blue "TOYOTIRES" LOGO appeared in the prominent position of the stadium.

Toyo Rubber signed an agreement with AC Milan where Honda Keisuke is located, becoming the team's first senior sponsor from Japan. At first glance, this seems to be an advertising strategy for the Japanese and European markets, but the company's idea is not so simple. "This is in fact meant to start Russia playing before Honda, as well as Asia and the Middle East who are concerned about European football" (the company).

It is not just big companies that look at emerging market countries.

Among the top 20 tire sales in 2012, emerging companies took 10 seats, accounting for half of the country. During this decade, although the Big Three's sales have grown steadily, the total share has decreased by 17%. The momentum of emerging companies is evident.

In addition to representatives of emerging companies and Kumho, which cooperates with Yokohama Rubber, Korean companies such as Hankook and Nexans have also emerged. Accompanied by the growth of Hyundai Motor Co., which has already become a global manufacturer, these companies have expanded their business scale and their trajectory is exactly the same as that of Japanese companies.

Until recently, the tires of emerging companies were still mostly low-priced products, and it appeared to the auto companies in developed countries that there were no enough teeth.

However, the current situation is no longer comparable. Leading companies such as Toyota, Germany's Daimler, and BMW have adopted new products for new vehicles in succession. Passenger car tires of the emerging companies that are in the forefront of their identities are “not much different in quality from Japanese companies” (Nissan Motors).

But prices are 10 to 20% cheaper than big companies. The leap of a new company is entirely reasonable.

On the other hand, the dynamics of serpentine images have also emerged. Ranked 17th in the world by the tire industry, Apollo Tire India announced in 2013 that it would spend 240 billion yen to acquire the No. 11 US Cooper tire division. Although in the end the two parties did not reach an agreement on the amount, the negotiations eventually broke down. However, if this acquisition is made, a new company with a business scale comparable to the sixth ranked Italian Pirelli will be born in India.

However, as of now, emerging companies have only entered part of the passenger car tires. The special tire business that requires superior technical strength is still the world of big companies.

Bridgestone and Michelin have more than 80% of the oversized tyres used in construction and mining as a typical example.

Size and profit margins are super large

Super-sized tires have a hub diameter of 51 to 63 inches and a total height of nearly 2 times the height of an adult. The unit price of one tire is as high as several million yen, and the profit rate is estimated to be about 20%, which is much higher than that of passenger cars.

The Bridgestone Saga factory is located in the corner of an industrial park in Kami-cho, Saga Prefecture. With the booming roar, thousands of machines are not producing tires. It is the structural material of the tire - a steel cord with a diameter of 0.2-0.5 mm.

The Saga Plant produces special steel cords for super-sized tires. Special vehicles traveling in mining areas need to drive on rough roads and tires are easily damaged. By bringing together about 200 special steel cords into one bundle, the inside of the rubber can make the tires strong enough to cope with the harsh environment.

Now, the independent technology of special steel cords has become the source of Bridgestone's competitiveness. Moreover, with the help of internal production, the company has also established a system that can directly reflect the driving data of mining and working sites to the development and production processes (the director Tamura Yasuyuki), successfully accelerating the speed of product improvement.

Not just technology. In 2012, Bridgestone also developed a system that utilizes tire chips to inspect tire pressure and temperature changes in building and mining vehicle tires and informs drivers. If you can detect in advance that the tire may be broken and avoid it in time, you can extend the use of the tire. Although this may lead to a temporary decline in sales, the company puts the trust of customers and maintains its share in the first place.

This is also true of Toyo Rubber's popular SUV (multifunctional sports car) large tires in North America. Patterns on the surface of the tire can only be manufactured using the company's own method. The process is like playing a beautiful ribbon, and other companies can't simply imitate it.

EV aggravates tire reorganization

About 30 years ago, a reorganization storm once engulfed the tire industry. Bridgestone acquired the top US Firestone, and Sumitomo Rubber acquired the original parent company, Dunlop's European tire business. There is only one purpose of successive M & A (mergers and acquisitions), that is, the pursuit of "scale efficiency" in order to achieve stable returns. After the merger and acquisition, more than 30 tire companies at the time left only about 10 large companies.

Now, large companies already have a certain scale of business, and the possibility of reorganization is low. But on the other hand, emerging companies are now at the stage of trying to expand their scale.

Is it an independent route? Collaborate with other companies? Is it still a merger or acquisition of large companies? Emerging companies will undoubtedly become the decisive factor in the future restructuring of the industry.

The EV (Pure Electric Vehicle), which is expected to spread in the future, will also speed up the reorganization of the tire industry. Compared to gasoline vehicles, the EV spins faster at the initial speed. And you must leave space for the battery. In view of the above characteristics, EVs are required to have a tire with a high abrasion resistance and a narrow width.

As long as new concept tyres for the new generation of cars can be manufactured, even emerging companies can shake the fortress of the Big Three.

"Even if a car can fly in the sky, it needs a tire when it lands." This is an old saying in the tire industry, but this does not mean that tire companies can survive without doing anything.

The shapes and functions of the tires that the car needs in the future may be different from those in the past. Only tire companies that respond to changes in tire demand and respond quickly can overcome the "second reorganization storm."

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