ZC Rubber has fired the starting gun with the Driving Experience Europe Tour in order to invest in brand popularity and awareness in European markets. The company describes itself as biggest Chinese tyre manufacturer. It was founded in 1958 and employs about 30,000 members of staff. The company generated a turnover of 4.57 billion US dollars in 2022, of which about 2 billion US dollars were international turnover. The company’s vision consists of becoming a worldwide leading tyre manufacturer. Thus, ZC Rubber has got a lot of plans for the years to come. By 2030, turnover is to be doubled to reach about 8 billion US dollars. Jumping to the fifth position in the ranking of international tyre manufacturers is meant to be a further milestone. Concerning the 100-year anniversary in 2058, ZC Rubber is aiming at producing with zero greenhouse emissions. At the moment, the company is working on going public at the stock exchange in Shanghai, which is to happen within this year.
The company had invited its leading European distribution partners to a three-day event at Nürburgring. Richard Li, Marketing Director of International Business at ZC Rubber, welcomed the guests and presented a remarkable company portrait. Afterwards, Leo Liao, Deputy General Manager of International Business at ZC Rubber and also responsible for the European market, explained the high-aiming future plans of the company that are to be put into practice by 2058. First of all, the management asked its distribution partners for trust for the plans and above all for its products. Primarily, there was a focus on the tyre brands Westlake and Goodride, which are to be optimized concerning quality by using top raw materials. Martin Wells, Managing Director President ZC-Technical Center Global OE, outlined the future as a European original equipment manufacturer in his talk and was supported by Jörn Tietjens, OE & Key Account Manager at ZC Rubber Technical Center in Europe. Functioning as original equipment manufacturer for the European vehicle industry was highly reinforced by the company.
Westlake and Goodride
At the moment, both tyre brands are advertised synchronously in the European tyre markets. In the future, both brands are supposed to take separate routes. The brand Westlake is to be positioned in the comfort segment, whereas the brand Goodride is to address more sporty drivers. Both brands have in common that they are to be developed towards a higher level of quality. As first step, both brands are to compete with secondary brands of leading tyre manufacturers. Later on, both brands are to enter the phalanx of premium tyres. About 10 years are planned for this quality step.
After the talks, the event was moved to the newly erected base camp of the main racing team in direct neighbourhood of Nürburgring. Guests were able to admire the workshop with numerous racing vehicles there. The hearty barbecue at a long table in the middle of the workshop created a very relaxed atmosphere and allowed for “fuel conversations”.
Driving event at the Ring
The next day, the two top products could intensively be tested in different driving tests and circumstances. Several vehicles were equipped with the Goodride Solmax 1. The UHP tyre of Westlake ZuperAce Z-007 was mounted to further vehicles. Different race drivers and instructors made professional recommendations how many stations could be experienced. Already the first braking tests showed that the tyres were able to cope with hard requirements.
The Champion Race, where in each case two drivers were driving against each other, turned out to be great fun. The wet route and motion platform confronted the participants very fast with their limitations. In spite of good water displacement, both driver and vehicle were skidding around frequently. During the handling course, it was important to drive quickly but controlled and “feel” the tyres at the same time. The slalom course illustrated how the tyres were able to get the steering movements on the road. At the end of the driving event, the driving climax was waiting for the participants. The opportunity to sit next to a professional race driver in the passenger seat was often grasped extensively. During that final “exam”, it became obvious how well the professionals were able to dominate the vehicles.
