www.tirebusiness.com April 15, 2019 $79 per year, $4 per copy Tire Business Special Report CommercialTire& Will duties cause shortage of TBR tires? RetreadingReport Mergers/acquisitions high- USTMA forecasts medium-duty product shipments to drop in 2019 10 light 2018/19 commercial By Bruce Davis medium-duty truck/bus shipments this year. those tariffs, the moves proved providential when sector developments [email protected] The drop, which translates to 1.5 million units, the Department of Commerce handed down in ill the newly imposed countervailing is tied primarily to the anticipated impact of the February its decision to impose countervailing North America’s and antidumping import duty orders on higher import duties on China, the No. 1 source of and antidumping duty orders on truck and bus 14-15 largest commercial Wtruck and bus tires from China lead to imported truck tires. tires from China, sources said. dealerships chart shortages of tires and/or rising prices? Truck tire imports from China last year soared The surplus inventory of these “tariff-beater” That scenario seems to be more than likely, ac- 42.1 percent to 9.22 million units, or more than half imports on hand could serve to ll the gap, at least Bridgestone launches ‘Fleets cording to various sources contacted by Tire Busi- of all imports. The increase, however, was in ated temporarily, for any shortfalls in new imports, 17 We Depend On’ retreading ness. The big question, however, is: To what extent? by importers’ placing extra orders toward year-end sources indicated. education campaign The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association may to get product on-shore prior to the Trump admin- At this point it’s still speculation as to how have presaged a product shortage inadvertently istration’s threatened 15-percent tariffs on billions much the duties — ranging from 20.98 to 63.34 North America’s largest with its latest industry shipment report, issued of dollars’ worth of goods from China. percent countervailing and 9 to 22.57 percent 18-19 retreaders chart March 5, which projected a 6.8-percent drop in While the administration eventually postponed SEE DUTIES, PAGE 26 Giti plans to reinvigorate Expansion gets A-OK OK Tire is laying foundation GT Radial brand in N.A. for growth through mid-2020s By Bruce Davis about 30 locations a year, Mr. Cald- U.S. factory to ramp up production, launch several new tire lines [email protected] well said, a pace the franchisor ex- VANCOUVER, British Columbia pects to continue for the coming ve OK Tire Stores Inc. is commit- years or so. The network stood at 323 ting $75 million (C$100 million) locations in early April. over the next ve years to expand “We are changing our business model its distribution capabilities across to provide our dealers with everything Canada to support its drive they require to serve our cus- to recruit new franchisees tomers’ automotive needs and grow market share. better. Today’s announcement The expansion project marks the beginning of a new Giti Tire Group photo Giti Tire's plant in Richburg, S.C., is ramping up production of passenger and light truck tires. — the most signi cant in OK Tire as Canada’s premier the company’s 66-year his- tire and auto service company.” By Kathy McCarron for Walmart Inc. stores and now also tire is being delivered to distribution tory — will add more than In addition to expanding [email protected] is producing the newly introduced GT centers under a soft launch. Limited 500,000 square feet to OK and improving the group’s RICHBURG, S.C. Radial Maxtour LX for CUVs and cars. sizes of this line will be built in Indo- Tire’s network of 11 region- physical assets, OK Tire is As the new kid in the North Ameri- “We have plans over the next ve nesia to cater to what Giti called an un- al distribution centers and Caldwell working on its digital plat- can manufacturing neighborhood, Giti years to introduce new products ev- derserved segment of the market. provide a more robust online forms as well with a goal of Tire Manufacturing (USA) Ltd. has ery year out of this plant,” Giti North “We are in the early stages of re- platform for the member-owned com- creating an online customer experi- ambitious plans to make its mark in America CEO Tim Fulton said during building the GT Radial brand. The last pany to compete more effectively in ence that parallels what customers get the regional tire market. a media tour of the plant in March. three years have impacted us severely e-commerce. in the physical stores. Since the groundbreaking four years ago “We’ll use the manufacturing ca- in our ability to supply tires to our deal- “Thanks to our dealers, we are “Our objective is to future-proof our for its 1.7-million-sq.-ft. facility in Richburg, pabilities of this plant as the principal ers,” said Jim May eld, senior execu- experiencing phenomenal and con- business,” Chief Operating Of cer Mi- the subsidiary of Singapore-headquar- source for our U.S. products, comple- tive vice president of sales and market- sistent growth the past few years in chael Rutherford said, “which is why tered Giti Tire Group began producing mented by the factory in Indonesia to ing, referring to increased U.S. tariffs our network on both the commercial we are installing state-of-the-art dis- tires in late 2017, hired more than 700 provide the full range of sizes.” and antidumping duties imposed on and retail side,” OK Tire President tribution systems at our new facilities. employees and has been ramping up Giti plans to introduce three prod- tires imported from its China plants. and CEO Jim Caldwell said. “We will be able to carry more production for new lines of tires. uct lines in 2019 to help it build the “Those days are over. The company The OK Tire franchise network has products and service our retail “This facility is half of what we GT Radial brand: has gured out what our go-forward been growing by the past few years SEE OK , PAGE 26 want,” said Hank Eisenga, vice pres- The Maxtour LX focuses on strategy is and it’s time to start connect- ident of manufacturing. “So our in- the grand touring segments — pas- ing to consumers again and bringing tent is to take and double this facility senger cars with high-speed ratings them the message of some great tires as quickly as we can.” and larger rim diameters, as well as that we’re going to be bringing to mar- The plant, Giti’s most state- a heavy focus on CUVs. ket and selling. We’re going to utilize of-the-art facility, is producing about The Adventuro HT will be social media in a very strong way to 8,000 tires per day with a capacity for launched this summer. The plant has make that connection,” he said. 10 million tires per year. started manufacturing some sizes of According to Giti, the new Maxtour “Our intention is to get there as the LT/SUV tire, while other sizes will LX is priced lower than its bench- quickly as we can,” he added. be built in the P.T. Gajah Tunggal plant marked brand competition: Continen- The plant began by producing in Indonesia. tal, Cooper, Nexen and Hankook. Dextero-brand passenger car tires The Maxmiler Pro commercial “The reality of the market today is that our brand is not well known. OK Tire Stores Inc. photo ©Entire contents copyright 2019 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. SEE GITI, PAGE 7 OK Tire Stores expects to add 30 stores a year through the mid-2020s. ATD’s Tire Pros unveils 3 several initiatives at National Conference PROTECTS YOUR FLEET. PROTECTS YOUR REPUTATION. 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Visit us on the web at www.tirebusiness.com TIRE BUSINESS, April 15, 2019 • 3 IndustryNews Tire Pros rolls out dealer tools, initiatives By Don Detore during the meeting. working as a team. [email protected] “The choices we make today will “There are three things that make ORLANDO, Fla. ensure that Tire Pros and our fran- up any team or organization: people, American Tire Distributors Inc.’s chisees are ideally positioned for the structure and chemistry,” Mr. Billick (ATD) Tire Pros marketing group ways that consumers shop, including said. “You have a winning combination unveiled several initiatives during its how they select their tire and automo- in place when you combine the best recent National Business Conference tive service retailer. We believe that players — all of you franchisees in the that are designed to help dealers in- there is so much at stake, but impor- audience — with the winning game crease store trafc, improve efciency tantly, we believe that we can’t do this plan that Tire Pros is outlining today.” and maximize protability.