If you talk about car tire brands, you will remember "Michelin", "Bridgestone", "Goodyear" and "Hankook" and so on, but who would think of China in this huge and most promising car market The most likely to be ranked first is actually the world's only ranked tenth, but in Chinese consumers, it belongs to "non-famous brands" of Kumho tires.
Profound data behind the downturn
When interviewing Kumho Tire's research center in Tianjin, when a reporter asked Cao Shiyu, general manager of the planning department, when the downturn in the auto market in 2008 had no impact on the company, Cao’s general manager did not directly answer, but confirmed it to the assistant. After a few data, we told us rationally and reasonably, "almost no impact."
According to the introduction of the general manager of Cao Shikai, in 2008, Kumho Tire provided Accessories for 34 plus automotive manufacturers, and the annual supply reached 8.5 million, and the OE supporting market continued to stabilize its market share. Based on this, the Kumho brand also achieved an increase of more than 20% in the sales of passenger vehicle tire replacement market. The market share of sedan tires reached 21.5%, and it became the tire company with the largest market share in China's passenger car tire market. In the field of commercial vehicles, the market share of tires for passenger cars and light trucks has also reached 16.4%. Kumho Tire plans to increase the market share of China's PCR (passenger vehicle) to 30% by 2013.
Brand soft power and product hard truth
Unlike Michelin's high-profile branding campaign, Kumho Tire believes in the product itself. Although there are five sales offices, 18 offices and 7 sales offices in China, there are 210 distributors and 1,422 core series retail stores in the distribution network. But what really makes Kumho proud of is China's four tire production bases (Nanjing PCR, Nanjing TCR, Tianjin, and Changchun). Of course, what is more important is the establishment of a research center in Tianjin for China's continuous growth market - - This allows KTM to more easily collect and analyze China's tire technology information, have more flexible and targeted product design solutions and product development with regional characteristics, and quickly provide technical support for China's tire production base.
The core competitiveness brought by R&D and production is the largest source of capital and confidence for Kumho to compete against other more appealing tire brands. Kumho Tire believes that better and more differentiated products, as well as economies of scale, will be the decisive factor for the Chinese tire market.
The goal is China's first tire company
Kumho is planning the Chinese market with the unique savvy and prudent Korean people. On their blueprint for the 21st century, we can clearly see that Kumho’s production capacity and market are constantly expanding: the completion of the Nanjing factory in 2005, Kumho completed the first 0E supporting market; in 2006, the Tianjin base was completed, and Kumho reached the first place in the retail market for passenger cars and light trucks; with the completion of the Tianjin TBR in 2008 and the second phase of Tianjin this year, Kumho The goal is to win the first place in the radial tire market; the second phase of 2010 in Changchun will be carried out according to the plan, and this year will be the mission of Kumho Tire - the first completion of the Chinese tire market.
New green energy-saving technology is the future direction of Kumho tires
The turmoil of the economic storm is both a crisis and an opportunity for all companies, and energy conservation and environmental protection have become the standards Kumho Tire strictly adheres to. Not long ago, the Tianjin plant passed the national environmental impact assessment and evaluation of occupational hazards and became a “green company†in the tire industry; Kumho Tire was also recommended by the Xinhua News Agency as the energy conservation and emission reduction environmental protection company along with brands such as Toshiba and Sharp; Kumho Tire focuses on its leading technology research and development. The KR88, a series of environmental protection and energy-saving products for taxis that was first introduced in June 2008, can save 3% of fuel consumption per year compared to other similar products, saving about 836 yuan per year. The tire's mileage life is more than 10% more than other tires, at the same time, it can also reduce the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 362KG compared with similar tire products.
Under the Kumho Global R&D System (with four global R&D centers, including the Birmingham Research and Development Center (KETC), Cologne Research and Development Center (KATC), and Kumho (China) Research and Development Center (KCTC)), through unremitting efforts, Kumho Tire has successfully developed the world's first aromatic tire ECSTA DX Aroma, the use of cutting-edge technical gas-saving tires ECSTA XRP, the world's only 32-inch SUV tires, and the world's first flat tires than the lowest - ECSTA 15 series and other high-tech Products, strong technical force recognized by the world.
Brand marketing pushes competitions and user services
In brand marketing, Kumho Tire believes that sports marketing is the most effective strategy for expanding brand influence. For 10 consecutive years, it has become the official tyre supplier for F3 in Europe and Kumho ECSTA series tyres for F3. In China, Kumho Tire is not only the AFR Asian Renault Formula Tire supplier known as “China F1â€, but also sponsors the Chongqing Ford Team participating in the National Stadium Championship and achieved the outstanding results of the 2007 Team Championship. The brand has won a good brand image in the Chinese market. In addition, Kumho Tire also sponsors Premier League giants Manchester United and becomes a Platinum member of Manchester United, establishing a high-end brand image for the company. Make full use of the identity of Manchester United sponsors to actively plan and participate in a variety of related activities, successfully attracting the attention of consumers, forming a hot spot, upgrading the technology leading image of Kumho Tire, which also results in a unique differentiated high-end marketing strategy for the company. .
In terms of consumer influence, more and more traffic accidents caused by hidden dangers in automobiles have been targeted. Since June 2008, Kumho Tire has been conducting free safety testing activities in 22 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou for more than five months, and has been cared and supported by car owners. In 2009, a series of consumer communication activities and tire safety use knowledge will be launched soon. In addition, as an official sponsor of Europe’s top giants Manchester United, Kumho Tires will also plan to invite some consumers to watch Manchester United’s exciting games in Asia.
It is not yet known whether Kumho Tire will really become the No. 1 tire company in 2010. However, in accordance with the laws of the market, from all aspects to enhance product and marketing capabilities as a whole, and practice hard, it is absolutely invincible in the ever-changing market. It seems that Kumho Tire's corporate vision in China is not far away.
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