SUFFOLK, England (Dec. 17, 2007) — Taiwanese tire maker Maxxis International Inc. has received its first original equipment contract in Europe from Peugeot.
The company said it will supply about 500,000 tires per year for the Peugeot 207.
Maxxis said its has established itself as a Tier 1 supplier to all the major car manufacturers in the Far East and North America, and now is focusing on increasing its business in Europe. As part of that effort, it has invested in a technical center that opened three years ago in the Netherlands.
Maxxis' approach is to open a tech center, then make inroads with OE accreditations to gain business, according to Managing Director Derek McMartin. That philosophy has worked in the U.S., where the company moved into a larger tech center in Suwannee, Ga., from a smaller facility in Norcross, Ga., and now supplies about 6 million tire a year to Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., he said.
The company also has tech centers in Shanghai and Xiamen, China, as well as Taiwan.