New opportunities in the tire industry: green e-commerce transformation and upgrading

In 2014, while China's tire industry was encountering difficulties, new development opportunities such as green tires and e-commerce continued to appear. At the same time, the pace of China's tire industry seeking transformation and upgrading was also accelerating.

Green tires: the first year of system design

2014 is destined to be the first year of China's "green tires". From system design to corporate practice, "green tires" have become a recognized development trend in the industry.

On February 24, the China Rubber Industry Association issued the "Green Tire Technical Specification", and the trial began on March 1. This is the first domestic green tire industry self-discipline standard. This standard regulates the definition of green tires, puts forward the performance requirements of green tire products, requirements for the use of raw materials, and recommends green tire production technology. Experts said that the "Regulations" laid the foundation for China to implement the tire labeling system in the next step.

In order to promote the industrialization of green tires, the China Rubber Association has specially established the "Green Tire Industrialization Promotion Working Committee" and the "Green Tire Technical Support Center", which will certify tire testing agencies and refine the guidelines for green tire raw materials to achieve the ultimate goal Tire labeling system.

A number of independent tire companies such as Triangle Tire, Double Star Tire, Sailun, Aeolus, Linglong Tire, etc. have taken actions to take the development of green tires as an opportunity to accelerate the development of corporate strategies, technology upgrades, project transformations, and product development. The development process of "green tires".

Some industry experts said that with the establishment of a series of top-level systems such as the access system and labeling law, the development of green tires will continue to accelerate. It is estimated that by 2020, the market share of green tires will account for more than 60% of the national tire market.

Tire e-commerce: still exploring

In 2014, tire e-commerce continued to heat up. From international giants to independent brand elites, tire companies have tried water e-commerce business. The tire marketing activities of various e-commerce platforms such as JD.com, Tmall, Mai Tire, and wheel warehouse are also in the newspapers.

On June 5th, Du Weili, the sales director of Michelin's tire replacement market for cars and light trucks, introduced that Michelin's e-commerce O2O business is in the process of preparation.

On October 22, the flagship store of Triangle Tire e-commerce sales was settled in the "Tmall" online mall, and pilot operations were conducted in Guangdong and Sichuan provinces.

On November 10, the first tire e-commerce platform "Tire King" in Dongying City, Shandong Province was announced. The platform has a total investment of 230 million yuan, and the construction began in June 2014. It is planned to conduct an online test of the e-commerce website in January 2015, and it will be officially launched in May 2015.

Behind the hot business of tire e-commerce, its profit model has been in the exploratory stage. In the second half of 2014, there was news in the industry that e-commerce Mai Tire had failed to operate and executives had left. Almost at the same time, Wheel Library reached a strategic cooperation with IBM, and its self-built offline service store model seemed to be recognized.

The survey found that more than 50% of the industry believe that tire e-commerce is the general trend, but because it is still in the exploratory stage, the domestic e-commerce platform is not yet mature. However, some experts are optimistic that compared with the more mature markets in Europe and the United States, there is a lot of room for the development of domestic tire e-commerce, and the future market should be limitless.

Transformation and upgrading: looking for a breakthrough

In 2014, through a series of efforts, China's tire industry constantly examined its own gaps and made some breakthroughs on the road of transformation and upgrading.

On October 16, the "Strategic Research on a Powerful Country in China's Rubber Industry", which was organized and compiled by the China Rubber Industry Association for many years, was officially published and issued. It proposed new materials, intelligent manufacturing, corporate models, talent training, scientific research and development, and project construction. Strategic measures and a roadmap for phased implementation are given.

On October 22, the Shandong Provincial Government announced the Implementation Plan for the Transformation and Upgrading of Shandong Tire Industry. Starting from the status quo of the development of the industry, the "Plan" provides development goals and implementation methods in terms of brand cultivation, improvement of innovation capabilities, and adjustment of industrial structure in accordance with industry development trends.

It is reported that the global tire industry is developing in the direction of intensification, globalization, automation, informatization, greening and intelligence. The strategy of strengthening the country and the transformation and upgrading plan have become the right medicine for the Chinese tire industry.

The industry generally believes that China is already the world's largest tire producer, consumer and exporter. Realities at home and abroad force China's tire industry to become stronger. Therefore, transformation and upgrading is the only way for China's tire industry to realize its "dream of becoming a powerful nation", and it is also an opportunity that tire companies must seize for their development.