Yokohama Rubber to Launch Range of Affordable Tires in Europe

Yokohama Rubber has revealed that the company will be shortly launching a range of affordable tires for passenger vehicles in Europe. This initiative is meant to help the company achieve its aim of doubling tire sales in the region within a short span of four to five years. These competitively priced tires will be available in Europe at the retail level from May.

Yokohama had acquired Alliance Tire Group, a Holland based manufacturer of agricultural tires last year. The company will now piggyback on the brand awareness about Alliance Tire by launching its new range of economical tires under this brand in key markets like France, Germany, Spain and UK.

The tires to be marketed in Europe will be made in Japan and will take advantage of Yokohama’s expertise when it comes to treads and rubber composition. This initiative is the first such collaboration between Alliance and Yokohama Rubber.

The price of Alliance tires will be approximately similar to those of other second tier brands. Many other leading tiremakers have similar value brands like Hankook’s Laufenn, Bridgestone’s Firestone and Continental’s Barum tires.

Low-cost tire brands account for about 30-40 per cent of the total demand in Europe. The low-cost tire scene is very competitive with many brands from China, Indonesia and Taiwan jockeying for a share of this market.

According to Yokohama, tires belonging to the Alliance brand will be about 20-30 per cent cheaper than comparable Yokohama tires and is targeted at budget conscious consumers. Yokohama Rubber is engaged in wide ranging efforts to promote brand awareness in Europe through its partnership with the Chelsea Football Club.

At the global level, Yokohama Rubber was ranked No. 8 in 2015 with a 2.6% market share. More notable is the fact that Europe accounted for only 7 per cent of the company’s total tire sales in 2016, including new vehicle and replacement sales. This is why the company has chosen to focus on Europe with the launch of this new range.

Yokohama Rubber is making significant progress, mainly due to orders for German luxury vehicles and sales in 2017 are projected to increase by 10% from 2016.