Date: 19th November 2021Author: Chris Anthony Tyre Press
2021 has been a year of significant strategic developments for the fast-growing Linglong Tire business. On 10 June 2021, Linglong announced plans to invest in a huge tyre manufacturing facility in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province, China, which will output a wide range of products including 15.2 million high- performance radial tyres and 500,000 retreaded tyres. That three-phrase project will see construction commence in April 2022 and will be completed in March 2028.#
At roughly the same time, Linglong Tire released the outline of its mid-and long- term development strategy, which included the decision to adjust its “6 + 6” development strategy to the “7 + 5” strategy. In short, this means Linglong now aims to run seven production bases within China and five overseas. Linglong has partially achieved that goal since it now has seven tyre factories at home and two factories abroad in Thailand and Serbia respectively.
Linglong finished selecting the site for its seventh domestic factory on 27 August 2021. According to the latest announcement, Linglong will invest 5.208 billion yuan in a factory in Lujiang County Hefei City, Anhui Province, China. This project is supposed to have an annual output of 14.6 million sets of “ultra-high performance self-healing and smart radial tyres”. Within its 14.6 million tyre output that plant will produce 12 million passenger car tyres and 2.6 million truck and bus tyres. The first phase of construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2023 and construction is expected to start this year. The overall project is slated for completion in 2027.
New Hubtrac OTR range announced, TBR range extended But there have also been developments within the company’s product line-up and brand marketing strategies. At present, LingLong Tire’s international brand strategy focuses on establishing a diversified brand system. To this end the company’s brand portfolio features: Linglong, Atlas, Leao, and Evoluxx as well as other sub-brands designed to meet various customers’ different needs.
LingLong Tire has gradually developed its truck and bus radial (TBR) range to the point that it now boasts a complete line-up. LingLong’s TBR offering now covers six major series range: long-distance, regional, mixed road, mine, snow tyres and bus and coach fitments – all of which are being sold under the company’s Hubtrac brand. The Hubtrac range is being specifically targeted at European customers, with newly designed patterns, sidewalls and structures in the global market since Oct 2020. According to the company, the new brand “wins consistent high praise from customers from different countries and regions, such as Europe, North America, the Middle East, South America” and more.
Just a year after it hit the market, as of October 2021, Hubtrac tyre’s TBR product range has already surpassed 200 stock-keeping units (SKU). Meanwhile, Hubtrac is reportedly gearing up to offer “more convenience and rapid delivery service for European customers” when LingLong’s Serbian factory goes into operation in the first quarter of 2022.
The plan is that LingLong Tire will develop its Hubtrac brand into a full-range offering including OTR, agricultural, industrial and passenger car tyres. This process will take place step-by-step with a view to further expanding overall brand influence, but it begins with a both physically big and influential segment.
The latest news is that the tyre manufacturing will add its OTR and some agricultural tyre products to the Hubtrac brand offering in November 2021. Hubtrac OTR will be offered on the global markets and include the following applications: dump truck tyres, loader tyres, desert tyres, underground tyres, high-speed cranes tyres and snow tyres.
12 specific SKU will be introduced to the market. In the next step, Hubtrac representatives report that the company will continue to “update and improve new products according to customers’ needs in different market segments that meet market requirements to the greatest extent”.
All of this will be offered across a wide-ranging distribution network. Overall, LingLong reports that the company has access to nearly 100,000 sales outlets in the global market, including almost 7,000 branded stores and more than 800 first- level distributors.