Asian tyre brands are set to create the biggest shake-up to the premium tyre market in a generation as they look to snipe customers from traditional marques, the boss of Pirelli has told Autocar.
This impending push, especially from China, will mean rivals will “quickly catch up, both in quantity and quality terms", predicted Piero Misani.
“In a competitive world, like the automotive one, you always have to watch carefully what competitors are doing,” he said.
“In the past, we were used to looking at the traditional competitors, but today we have to have a wider view. We can't neglect that there are newcomers, especially from Asia or China itself, that are extremely aggressive and are progressing fast.
“It isn't just a matter of innovation only, but it's a matter of speed of innovation, so they’re catching up.”
These new brands will be looking to follow in the success of their compatriots.
A prime example is China's Triangle. A decade ago, it was used as ‘a typical economy alternative’ by some major European firms when demonstrating new premium tyres. Now it has launched its own high-performance Sportex range and is being tipped as one of the industry’s future leading brands.
Another, Japan’s Falken, which turned 40 this year, was once seen as a budget tyre but is now positioned as a mid-range brand and often embarrasses more expensive rivals in the respected independent tyre tests, according to European chief corporate officer Andreas Giese. As a result, the brand has subsequently gained original-equipment approval by several car makers, including Mercedes-Benz.
This push from the far east isn’t a bad thing, though, according to Misani, because as the newcomers push to keep up, the established brands will have to drive forward harder to develop new technology and “again set a gap versus somebody who is catching up".
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