FINDLAY, Ohio—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. and Argentina's Fate S.a.i.c. have agreed to work together, with Fate planning to distribute Cooper-branded consumer tires in Argentina starting immediately.
“Cooper is pleased to align with Fate, a highly respected and quality-focused tire company with extensive reach in Argentina and throughout South America, as we continue to move forward with our strategic plan to grow our business in Latin America,” said Brad Hughes, Cooper's chief operating officer.
The two companies also may work together on a variety of potential cooperative ventures, including tire production, offtake arrangements, and possible cooperation on research and development activities.
Among other products, Fate produces radial passenger, light truck, SUV and truck and bus tires at its plant in San Fernando, Argentina, where it has capacity for about 5 million tires per year. With fiscal 2014 sales of $327 million, Fate was ranked 58th worldwide on the 2015 Rubber & Plastics News' Top 75 Tire Makers' list.
“Fate is enthusiastic about the foreseen cooperation by complementing our already extensive portfolio of car, light-truck and SUV tires with Cooper's valuable range of products and its highly respected brand, as it will have a positive impact on our sales network while further enhancing Fate's industrial growth strategy,” Fate Commercial Manager Miguel Canay said.
Cooper disclosed aggressive growth plans for Latin America in 2014, saying the region had potential to support 4 million to 5 million tires by 2020.
Earlier this year the tire maker hired Luis Ceneviz, formerly an executive with Apollo Tyres Ltd. and Goodyear, to be managing director of its Latin America Tire Operations, a new position.
The company already has a sales network of agents in 21 Latin American and Caribbean nations.