U.S. tire market continues to attract new players

AKRON — In a year dominated by supply chain issues, elevated import duties and recovering demand, companies continued to look to branding as ways to differentiate themselves and build equity.

According to Tire Business research, more than 425 tire brands are available in North America, distributed by 130-plus companies, including 20 with a manufacturing base in the U.S.

These companies' flag and associate brands represent approximately three-fourths of the passenger and light truck tire volumes sold in North America, according to Tire Business' analysis of U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) data and import statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Of the remainder, 35 are subsidiaries of, or have exclusive distribution rights to, the brands they import and distribute.

Of the 425-plus brands identified by Tire Business, 20 or so are considered new or relaunched in the U.S.

In addition to the market dynamics listed at the beginning of this article, companies large and small have had to deal with multiple price increases throughout the past year.

For the most part, companies surveyed for this special section said customers have been "accepting" of the price increases, but with supplies limited by both manufacturing anomalies and supply-chain snags, buyers have resigned themselves to taking what they can to keep inventories at least partially full.

At the same time, imports of tires in the major consumer and commercial categories bounced back from 2020 to record levels, despite the global supply-chain issues that dominated news coverage throughout 2021.

As for supply, domestic production rose last year versus 2020 but still fell short of regaining pre-pandemic levels in passenger and medium truck/bus tires, USTMA data show.

U.S. passenger tire production, in particular, climbed 10.3 percent over 2020 but still fell 16 million units shy of the 2019 output.

Imports of tires in the major consumer and commercial categories bounced back from 2020 to record levels, filling at least partially the demand not met by domestic production.

Commerce Department data show tire imports surged by double digits across the major tire categories: Passenger tires up 10.4%; light truck tires up 19.8 percent and medium truck/bus tires up 31.8 percent.

Thailand continues to be the No. 1 source of imported tires for the U.S., a fact reflected in the makeup of many import and private-brand companies' listings.

Companies that relied on supply from Taiwan were hit hard. Tire makers there were hit the hardest by the U.S.'s imposition of elevated import duties early in 2021, which resulted in drops of 56.5 percent and 59.4 percent in passenger and light truck tire shipments to the U.S. last year versus 2020.

Among the companies that have started business in North America in the past year are:

• China's Jinyu Tire Group, a predominantly commercial tire maker, started shipping Amulet- and Jinyu-brand truck/bus tires to U.S. customers last summer in line with its plans to grow on a global scale.

The tires, built in Jinyu's year-old factory in Tay Ninh, Vietnam, compete in the Tier 3 segment. The company has established a liaison office, Jinyu Tire USA Co. Ltd. Inc. in Las Vegas, but for now deals in container-load shipments only.

•  Global exporter Maxon International Co. established a U.S. subsidiary, Trimax Tire, and engaged industry veteran Chris Tolbert to oversee sales operations for five Chinese brands that have been on the market before but are considered too small to have their own U.S. office: Haida, Farroad, Joyroad, Kapsen and MileKing.

In addition, some more established companies added proprietary brands to the their portfolios, including:

• Lucy's Tire Americas struck a deal in late 2021 with Guizhou Tire Co. Ltd. (GTC) to import and distribute Guizhou's Tornado truck tire brand in the U.S.

Medley, Fla.-based Lucy's Tire will position the Tornado brand, which offers a range of steer, drive and all-position versions, as a Tier III product, according to Jose Rios, president of Lucy's Tire, in a conversation with Tire Business during the 2021 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

The Tornado line is the third Guizhou Tire brand that Lucy's Tire will be handling, alongside Advance and Samson. The wholesaler also distributes the JK Tyre truck tire brand in certain markets in the U.S.

Lucy's will offer both containerload and warehouse shipments, Rios said.

• Houston-based Jee Wholesale Tires L.L.C. has become the U.S. distributor for Vizzoni-brand tires, a brand that belongs to Vizzoni Auto United DMCC, a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based company. Vizzoni contracts the building of its tires to undisclosed third-party manufacturers in Indonesia and Thailand.

It's the first proprietary brand Jee Wholesale has handled, according to President Dev Lamba.

In business since 2006, Jee is offering lines of passenger, light truck, industrial and OTR tires in the Vizzoni brand. The distributor also handles seven other brands: Alliance, Carlisle, Deestone, Galaxy, Hankook, Primex and Sumitomo.

• Wholesale Tire Distributors (WTD) added the Iris brand, the flag brand of Iris Tyres, a relatively new manufacturer based in Setif, Algeria. The company is owned by Algerian consumer electronics and household appliances group Saterex-Iris E.u.r.l.

Vernon, Calif.-based WTD continues as an independent business after parent ATV Inc. sold the American Tire Depot retail assets in Southern California to Percheron Investment Management L.P.

Besides Iris, WTD distributes a portfolio of private brands, such as Arroyo and Saffiro, along with a range of Tier 1, 2 and 3 brands.

Other news worth noting among tire brand distributors:

• Sutong Tire Resources Inc. is consolidating warehousing in the Houston area at a 134,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Brookshire, Texas. That facility, which replaces two smaller warehouses, is expected to be operational in mid- to late June, according to President Dan Hunter.

The Hockley, Texas-based company — which distributes a dozen brands it imports from manufacturers in China and Thailand — has two other distribution centers in North America, in Anderson, Ind., and near Toronto.

• ZC Rubber Americas is planning to move its Los Angeles distribution center to a larger facility (200,000 to 300,000 square feet) before year-end in order to improve distribution to customers.

The company, part of China's Zhongce Rubber Co. Ltd., is evaluating sites in the Los Angeles area. ZC Rubber has one other warehouse in the U.S.