Alliance Tire Americas Inc. plans to open a third warehouse in the U.S. next year to support anticipated growth and will expand its relationship with China's Aeolus Tyre Co. Ltd. to include radial off-the-road tires.
Alliance Tire, the Brentwood, Tenn.-based subsidiary of Israel's Alliance Tire Group, still is evaluating locations for the warehouse, ATG CEO Yogesh Mahansaria said while attending the 2010 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show in Las Vegas. Alliance Tire Americas operates warehouses in Brentwood and Houston.
Since acquiring the Galaxy and Pri-mex brands last year in the bankruptcy proceedings of Galaxy Tire Corp., ATG has organized its business into two basic groups, Mahansaria said: agricultural/-forestry/construction tires, with primarily the Alliance and Galaxy brands; and earthmover tires, with the Primex brand.
Although there are some overlaps, Alliance is treating them as distinct segments requiring distinct distribution strategies and personnel, he said.
“The underlying dynamics of each is different, with the EM sector dominated by the world's major tire makers” but the AFC less so, the executive said. ATG sees opportunities in a number of niche EM segments, such as underground min- ing.
Mahansaria said he is bullish on business in North America because of the loyalty and enthusiasm that Galaxy dealers have expressed in the brand since ATG acquired it.
ATG has restructured its facility in Israel to concentrate on higher value-add-ed radial farm and forestry tires, while its plant in India is geared toward larger volume, longer-run products, according to the executive. ATG should complete the first phase of building and equipping the Indian factory by March, he said, with the second phase coming on stream 12 to 15 months later.
Among new products in the pipeline, he said, are winter tires for tractors, radial forestry tires and radial flotation farm tires capable of running at 60 mph on the road.
Alliance's business with Aeolus is flourishing since Alliance took over GPX's exclusive distribution rights for Aeolus-brand radial truck tires, said Manny Cicero, president of Alliance Tire Americas, and will strengthen next year with the addition of Aeolus' radial OTR tire line.
Jiaouzuo-based Aeolus added radial OTR tires to its product mix a few years ago, said Shen Hongliang, Aeolus vice president and general manager.
The firm makes sizes up to 33-inch rim diameter but has 49- and 57-inch sizes under development, he said.
Aeolus is boosting capacity at its headquarters plant, Hongliang said, so that output next year will approach 250,000 metric tons of processed rubber.
Considered the 25th-largest tire maker worldwide with 2009 sales of $827 million, Aeolus generates about one-third of its annual sales from exports, Hongliang said.