Adhesion to the soil: how the Russian tire industry is reviving
One of the most modern tire manufacturing enterprises in our country, the former Bridgestone plant, has been restarted in the Ulyanovsk region. He became a part of the Russian tire holding company Cordiant. It will produce both mass-produced Cordiant brand tires and the Gislaved line of premium tires. For more information about the company's prospects and trends in the Russian tire market, see the Izvestia article.
Changing the signboard
The Bridgestone plant, launched in 2016 near Ulyanovsk, became the last foreign tire manufacturing company to appear in our country. Investments in production amounted to about 12.5 billion rubles. After the imposition of sanctions against Russia, the plant was shut down in March 2022. Until the end of 2023, it was still owned by a Japanese company, and then became part of the Cordiant holding and was named Gislaved.
As Alexey Russian, Governor of the Ulyanovsk region, noted at the opening ceremony of the plant, the company had been idle for more than two years after the departure of a foreign manufacturer.
"We managed to retain almost the entire staff of the plant — all this time all social benefits have been preserved. Now the company is being restarted by a domestic investor, who has done a lot of work. This is the last plant in the region that was restarted after the departure of foreign investors," said the head of the Ulyanovsk region.
According to Alexey Mordashov, General Director of Severgroup CJSC (he owns Cordiant Holding), the Ulyanovsk plant was launched in test mode at the end of last year. This made it possible to "run in" the production processes before the full start of the enterprise, he noted.
"The plant's products will change, we are working on expanding the range. This is one of the most modern factories. The company is capable of making premium quality tires: we will fill the segment of premium tires, which are in short supply on the market," said Alexey Mordashov.
The head of Severgroup also shared the production plans of the Ulyanovsk Gislaved plant. By the end of this year, the company plans to produce about 1.2 million tires. The plant is expected to reach full capacity next year — 2.4 million tires per year, Alexey Mordashov said.
You can't replace everything
The Gislaved plant in Ulyanovsk is already producing Cordiant Run Tour summer tires, as well as Cordiant Snow Max 7000 winter studded tires, said Vadim Volodin, CEO of Cordiant JSC. Also, according to him, production of the third tire model, Gislaved Spike Control, will begin at the enterprise in the very near future. In addition, it is planned to launch production of two more models of summer tires under the Gislaved brand during the year.
Vadim Volodin said that about half of the components used by Cordiant for tire production are of domestic production. At the same time, the process of import substitution of raw materials and components of future tires is actively underway, he stressed.
— This is a fairly lengthy procedure: homologation of a component in a rubber compound or tire frame from assessing the quality of a new type of raw material to manufacturing and testing prototypes of finished products takes up to one and a half years. However, not everything can be replaced. For example, there is no natural rubber in Russia, without which tire production is impossible: it simply does not grow in our country," said Vadim Volodin.
The picture is similar with some types of "chemicals" that make up the rubber compound, he noted. According to him, only a few companies are engaged in the production of certain additives in the world.
Size matters
Tires ranging in size from 13 to 18 inches are currently being produced in Ulyanovsk. At the same time, Vadim Volodin noted, following the increase in the number of crossovers in the fleet, the demand for large-diameter tires is growing proportionally.
— We see this trend and try to follow the needs of the market. Over the year, the share of tires measuring 17 inches and above in total production increased from 9% to 11%. We intend to increase the production of such tires," said the General Director of JSC Cordiant.
By the end of the year, the company plans to expand the range of standard sizes of the offered passenger tires up to tires with a diameter of 22 inches, he added.
The head of Cordiant also said that the company has developed tires for cars of the domestic luxury brand Aurus. These tires are currently in the testing phase, he added.
— Gislaved brand tires for Aurus cars are already being tested. This is a definite challenge for us. The automaker is interested in a second supplier," Vadim Volodin emphasized.
The Chinese threat
Last year, sales of new passenger car tires in Russia increased by 23%. Cordiant has a market share of 13%, hoping to increase it to 14-15% this year, Vadim Volodin said. At the same time, the existing capacities in Russia for the production of passenger tires are excessive, he believes. Initially, most tire companies were also export—oriented - in some cases, more than half of the products of some factories were shipped abroad. The changed geopolitical situation has made supplies to Europe and the United States problematic. Therefore, the company is looking for new sales markets, said the General Director of JSC Cordiant. According to him, South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and some other countries are being considered.
Manufacturers from China are actively entering the Russian tire market, Vadim Volodin said. According to him, last year, the share of imported tires from China was 70%. Such expansion poses a hidden threat to the end user, he noted.
— Chinese manufacturers are literally thousands of brands. Often unknown. As a result, there is a danger that if such a tire needs to be replaced for some reason, it will not be easy or even impossible to find it," Vadim Volodin believes.
Therefore, buyers of domestic tires are in a better position, he notes. Russian brands are widely represented in all regions of the country, so it won't be difficult to find a replacement, says the head of Cordiant.
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, also believes that there are difficulties in finding the right model of Chinese tires, especially those of a little-known brand or not the most common size. But this problem concerns not only tires from China, he noted.
— This problem is typical for well-known European and Japanese tire brands. After the termination of official deliveries to our country, the replacement of one or two wheels often causes difficulties. Moreover, the larger and rarer the wheel size, the more difficult it is to find the necessary tire. Or its cost will be comparable to the price of a complete set of wheels of a Russian brand," Maxim Kadakov told Izvestia.
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