Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • European Rubber Journal
  • Plastics News
  • Tire Business
web
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Automotive
    • Tire
    • Non-Tire
    • Suppliers
    • Silicone
    • Latex
    • Coronavirus
    • Executive Action
    • Government/Legal
    • Opinion
    • Technical Notebooks
    • Women in Tire & Rubber
    • ITEC
    • International Elastomer Show
    • HEXPOL Sponsored Content
    • GM, LG Chem to build batteries in Tennessee by 2023
      Goodyear goes retro for 'Throwback' NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway
      Experts seek to address connected-, autonomous-vehicle energy consumption
      OUR VIEW: Big ideas power big technological leaps
    • Goodyear goes retro for 'Throwback' NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway
      Video: Nexen makes 500 million tires with no recalls
      JK Tyre adds radial truck tires to U.S. portfolio
      Last Mile: Delivery surge raises demand for medium truck tires
    • Nike to step up rubber sustainability efforts
      OUR VIEW: Big ideas power big technological leaps
      Evco Plastics buys Georgia plant to add LSR, white room molding
      Annual CAR MBS will be held as hybrid event
    • SI to begin antioxidant production in China
      ‘China-only Chinaplas' opens as first major industry show in the pandemic
      Farrel updates continuous mixer technology
      Chemours sets greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets
    • Smithers ramps up with Suzhou testing facility
      5 for 50: Bruce Meyer's five most memorable work trips
      AirBoss unveiling high heat-resistant EPDM
      Evco Plastics buys Georgia plant to add LSR, white room molding
    • ‘China-only Chinaplas' opens as first major industry show in the pandemic
      Latin America faces tough recovery from COVID-19, KraussMaffei executive says
      Titan Tire to offer free COVID-19 vaccines at Iowa facility
      Bridgestone hosts vaccination events for plant employees
    • Detroit 3 execs join voting rights debate in Michigan
      Harwick Standard hires Marc Pignataro to executive role
      Motion Industries promotes industry veteran Jim May
      Hutchinson names new chairman, CEO
    • Experts seek to address connected-, autonomous-vehicle energy consumption
      Detroit 3 execs join voting rights debate in Michigan
      Avon Rubber expects 40 percent rise in half-year sales
      Top Glove says U.S. withhold order bears no financial impact
    • Meyer: Sunflowers seek their due
      OUR VIEW: Big ideas power big technological leaps
      Column: Ramping up to an RPN milestone
      Our view: It may be time to rethink, rebuild supply chains
    • Correlating cure kinetics and physical properties with accelerator variations in a model SBR compound
      Material to give tire compounds lower density, lower hysteresis and improved wear
      Technical notebook: How to control porosity in extruded EPDM dense profile
      Part 2: Studying RPA ASTM methods for detecting compound quality differences
    • WORD Conversations: Charles Goodyear Medalist Puskas says academia needs to ease time commitments
      Women find success, opportunity in petrochemicals
      Rubber Division to host WORD webinar series
      Rubber Division introduces WORD webinar series
    • Goodyear recognized by Lockheed Martin as 'elite supplier'
      EV tire advancements to help secure future
      Lambillotte: Only question on AVs is timing
      CAR official says EV future brighter than autonomous
    • Rubber Division preparing for Spring Technical Meeting
      Rubber Division introduces WORD webinar series
      Rubber Division seeks abstracts for 200th Technical Meeting
      WORD panelists say evolution, authenticity keys to success
    • Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      Faster Access to Your Polymer Compounding Experts Around the World
      Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      Take a walk thru a HEXPOL Lab
      Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      HEXPOL offers a unique selection of High Performance Elastomers to match your application requirements
      Sponsored By HEXPOL Compounding
      It’s what you can’t see that makes the Difference at HEXPOL
  • Blogs
    • Products
    • Wacky World of Rubber
    • New Products: MonTech adds to LP 3000 lab press lineup with custom options
      New Products: 3M rolls out new silicone adhesive for medical use
      GRI gains OE fitment for KION Group forklifts
      New Products: Hexpol develops new salt-water hydrophilic waterstops
    • Wacky World of Rubber: How Trelleborg, teens sealed a spot in the world record book
      Wacky World of Rubber: Of chicken and feet, but not chicken feet
      Wacky World of Rubber: Time to go mattress shopping
      Wacky World of Rubber: Because nothing says football like 'frunk' shrimp
  • Newsletters
    • Rubber in Automotive
    • Silicone News
    • Latex News
    • Sign Up for Newsletters
    • GM, LG Chem to build batteries in Tennessee by 2023
      Goodyear goes retro for 'Throwback' NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway
      Experts seek to address connected-, autonomous-vehicle energy consumption
      OUR VIEW: Big ideas power big technological leaps
    • Smithers ramps up with Suzhou testing facility
      5 for 50: Bruce Meyer's five most memorable work trips
      AirBoss unveiling high heat-resistant EPDM
      Evco Plastics buys Georgia plant to add LSR, white room molding
    • Meyer: Sunflowers seek their due
      World Rubber Summit to be virtual this year
      Synthomer launches Asia innovation center in Malaysia
      Sunflower rubber research expands with new funding
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Directory
  • Resources
    • Classifieds & Mold Mart
    • Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • HB Chemical
      Sponsored By HB Chemical
      The HB Chemical and Ravago Partnership: Taking Customer Service to a New Level
      Sponsored By HB Chemical
      Above and Beyond with HB Chemical
      Sponsored By HB Chemical
      The Company Behind the Inventory
      Sponsored By French Oil Mill Machinery
      Process Improvement, Cost Reduction with Custom Press Systems
    • Sponsored By AirBoss
      AirBoss introduces next-gen EPDM compound: HeatBoss EPDM
      Sponsored By Uncountable Inc.
      Labs of the Future: How to Choose a Laboratory Information Management System in 2021
      Sponsored By Uncountable Inc.
      Cooper Standard deploys lab informatics platform to synchronize R&D
      Sponsored By Elkem
      LSR Select™: A solution to improve your financial impact in molding applications
  • Data
  • Events
    • RPN Events
    • RPN Livestreams/Webinars
    • Industry Events
    • Past Events
    • ITEC Library
    • International Silicone Conference Library
    • 2021 Healthcare Elastomers Virtual Edition
      2021 Rubber in Automotive Virtual Edition
      2021 International Latex Conference Virtual Edition
      2022 ITEC
  • Advertise
  • DIGITAL EDITION
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
April 17, 2019 02:00 AM

Giti planning to reinvigorate GT Radial brand in North America

Kathy McCarron
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Giti Tire Group photo
    Giti Tire's plant in Richburg, S.C., is ramping up production of passenger and light truck tires.

    RICHBURG, S.C.—As the new kid in the North American manufacturing neighborhood, Giti Tire Manufacturing (USA) Ltd. has ambitious plans to make its mark in the regional tire market.

    Since the groundbreaking four years ago for its 1.7-million-sq.-ft. facility in Richburg, the subsidiary of Singapore-headquartered Giti Tire Group began producing tires in late 2017, hired more than 700 employees and has been ramping up production for new lines of tires.

    "This facility is half of what we want," said Hank Eisenga, vice president of manufacturing. "So our intent is to take and double this facility as quickly as we can."

    The plant, Giti's most state-of-the-art facility, is producing about 8,000 tires per day with a capacity for 10 million tires per year.

    "Our intention is to get there as quickly as we can," he added.

    The plant began by producing Dextero-brand passenger car tires for Walmart Inc. stores and now also is producing the newly introduced GT Radial Maxtour LX for CUVs and cars.

    "We have plans over the next five years to introduce new products every year out of this plant," Giti North America CEO Tim Fulton said during a media tour of the plant in March.

    "We'll use the manufacturing capabilities of this plant as the principal source for our U.S. products, complemented by the factory in Indonesia to provide the full range of sizes."

    Giti plans to introduce three product lines in 2019 to help it build the GT Radial brand:

    The Maxtour LX focuses on the grand touring segments—passenger cars with high-speed ratings and larger rim diameters, as well as a heavy focus on CUVs.

    The Adventuro HT will be launched this summer. The plant has started manufacturing some sizes of the LT/SUV tire, while other sizes will be built in the P.T. Gajah Tunggal plant in Indonesia.

    The Maxmiler Pro commercial tire is being delivered to distribution centers under a soft launch. Limited sizes of this line will be built in Indonesia to cater to what Giti called an underserved segment of the market.

    Giti Tire Group photo

    Giti Tire Group began producing tires in late 2017, hired more than 700 employees and has been ramping up production for new lines of tires.

    "We are in the early stages of rebuilding the GT Radial brand. The last three years have impacted us severely in our ability to supply tires to our dealers," said Jim Mayfield, senior executive vice president of sales and marketing, referring to increased U.S. tariffs and antidumping duties imposed on tires imported from its China plants.

    "Those days are over. The company has figured out what our go-forward strategy is and it's time to start connecting to consumers again and bringing them the message of some great tires that we're going to be bringing to market and selling. We're going to utilize social media in a very strong way to make that connection," he said.

    According to Giti, the new Maxtour LX is priced lower than its benchmarked brand competition: Continental, Cooper, Nexen and Hankook.

    "The reality of the market today is that our brand is not well known.

    And most of these brands have much higher recognition. So we know we have to rebuild it," Mayfield said. "And the way we're going to do it, we're going to provide a great value for our dealer customers to be able to make money selling the tire, and then it's going to be sold in the marketplace at a great value to the consumer.

    "So we get our tires into the market, consumers experience them and, over time, we'll be able to build the brand the way we need to. As we launch our Adventuro HT, as we launch other GT Radial products, new and exciting products, we'll build this brand the way we believe it can be built," Mayfield said.

    Automated production

    The highly automated equipment in Giti's state-of-the-art plant enables improved accuracy in mixing the compounds and assembling the components, said Phang Wai Yeen, Giti's executive director of international research and development centers.

    "At the end of the day, the final part of the components, the final part of the performance actually comes from the accuracy of the components, the accuracy of how we actually put the tire through the whole process. ... It is what we call the enabler of the engineer's dream," Phang said, adding, "You need a state-of-the-art plant where the tire can actually be replicated exactly the way it was designed."

    Even though the plant is highly automated, it still depends on human workers to oversee the operations, according to Phang.

    "It's not so simple, even though it's automated," he said. "(The tire builder's) eyes are always on the tire, making sure the machine is actually doing exactly what it is supposed to do. ... It is a skill. That's why craftsmanship remains the all-important element in tire manufacturing."

    After the tires are transported through the automated building and curing processes, workers visually inspect them at the end of the line before they go to the adjacent warehouse.

    The warehouse is stocked with thousands of Maxtour XL tires ready for distribution to North American tire dealerships.

    Global R&D

    Tire Business photo by Kathy McCarron

    Mayfield

    As part of its strategy, Giti relocated its North American R&D center, responsible for developing products specifically for the North American market, from Akron to a building next door to the new tire plant.

    This center is linked online with Giti's other R&D centers in Indonesia, China, Germany and the United Kingdom so they can share information and research, Phang said.

    "So you can say it is local (development), but it is global. The structure is global," he said.

    "With the R&D here, it is listening to the market. The local team, they grew up here, they live here, they know exactly what is needed, he said. "It will enable the faster deployment of the products.

    "So effectively, we have what we call a global technology platform, with local deployment. And local deployment means local deployment of the design, local industrialization in the nearest factory in the market."

    Production capacity is shared among Giti's eight plants in China, the U.S. and Indonesia, so capacity is used where it makes the most sense, he said.

    While the U.S. plant will manufacture a significant amount of tires for North America, Giti still will import some product and certain sizes to meet demand the U.S. plant cannot fulfill currently and because certain facilities are designed to be more efficient in producing certain products and sizes, Giti officials said.

    "There are not that many tire companies in the world that have that capability, so we're trying to compete with those global players," Fulton said. "You've got a hundred tire companies but probably 85 or 90 of those don't have that capability."

    Giti is the 11th largest tire manufacturer globally, based on Tire Business, rankings.

    "We're amongst that very top tier that has that global footprint, global R&D capability, global technology platform and distributing and manufacturing in three different countries. It's a big advantage that you have to be able to optimize your global footprint," Fulton said.

    The plants in China, the U.S. and Indonesia are interlinked, which speeds up the processes and troubleshooting of any problems that arise, he said.

    "This is one of the benefits of why we feel that this is going to propel the organization's penetration and participation in the U.S. because we are now actually pretty complete," Fulton said.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Rubber & Plastics News wants to hear from its readers. If you want to express your opinion on a story or issue, email your letter to Editor Bruce Meyer at [email protected].

    SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Rubber & Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe Today

    Subscribe to Rubber & Plastics News to get the best coverage and leading insights in the industry.

    SUBSCRIBE
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    MISSION

    To serve companies in the global rubber product industry by delivering news, industry insights, opinions and technical information.

    web
    Contact Us

    2291 Riverfront Pkwy, Suite 1000
    Cuyahoga Falls,
    OH 44221

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1726

    Resources
    • About Us
    • Digital Edition
    • Contact the Staff
    • Advertise
    • Order Reprints
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    • Terms of Service
    • Careers
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Partner Sites
    • Tire Business
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Plastics News
    • Plastics News China
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Automotive News
    • Crain Brands
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Automotive
      • Tire
      • Non-Tire
      • Suppliers
      • Silicone
      • Latex
      • Coronavirus
      • Executive Action
      • Government/Legal
      • Opinion
      • Technical Notebooks
      • Women in Tire & Rubber
      • ITEC
      • International Elastomer Show
      • HEXPOL Sponsored Content
    • Blogs
      • Products
      • Wacky World of Rubber
    • Newsletters
      • Rubber in Automotive
      • Silicone News
      • Latex News
      • Sign Up for Newsletters
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Photo Galleries
    • Directory
    • Resources
      • Classifieds & Mold Mart
      • Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
    • Data
    • Events
      • RPN Events
      • RPN Livestreams/Webinars
      • Industry Events
      • Past Events
      • ITEC Library
      • International Silicone Conference Library
    • Advertise
    • DIGITAL EDITION