Giti Tire (USA) Ltd.’s U.S. plant is preparing to enter phase two of its evolution, which will include capacity increases and the production of key sizes in several popular lines.
During a recent open house event at the six-year-old factory, which is based in Richburg, S.C., Dave Poling, director of tire development and product marketing for Giti, said that as part of the company's global manufacturing strategy, "we're going to be concentrating on our premium GT Radial products — the Maxtour LX, the Adventuro HT and the Adventuro ATX — and we’ll be bringing some sizes back to the U.S. that have been manufactured overseas.
"We’ll be expanding some sizes and focusing on 18,- 19- and 20-inch" fitments and “will still do” 17-inch sizes.
"We'll move some (Maxtour LX) sizes from our Indonesia plant to the U.S. and we'll have nine or 10 new sizes that we'll be manufacturing at the (South Carolina) plant this year," said Poling.
"The Adventuro HT timeline is probably over a year out, as we start to bring those back to the U.S." and it "will probably be six months before we start rolling some (Adventuro ATX sizes) back” to the U.S.
Poling noted when Giti's South Carolina plant opened, "we made a lot of the Dextero brand" passenger tires, which the company sells to Walmart. "We recently began making light truck tires at the plant and that will continue to grow." Future production at the facility will include Giti-brand tires for the original equipment channel.
When asked about Giti's overall product mix for the North American market, Wai Yeen Phang, CEO of Giti Tire North America, said that "from a practical point of view, with our mix, we’ll be no different than any of the other significant players. I would say it will always be consistent with the practices of the major players."
The next phase
Phase one of the South Carolina's development is winding down, according to Phang.
"Phase two will begin by increasing (production) capacity through completion (of installation) of additional machines. Phase one was not about capacity. Phase one was making sure our technology base and skill set were brought up to a level that will prepare us for the future.
“At this moment, we have the capacity for five million tires a year” at the South Carolina plant. “We are more than halfway there. When we finish the first phase, we’ll have to read the market again” and make sure tires produced at the factory “are in the right sizes."
The evolution of tire sizes in the North American market has been "very distinct," said Phang. "If you look at OE, 18-, 19- and 20-inch sizes are now on more than 60% of all new cars. We will have to align our product range to make sure we stay relevant.
"If you look at the American tire market, I would say that easily 60 % of tires are imported. Thirty percent are made in America. When we looked at what we should bring in and what we should make in America, it’s very obvious that we should be utilizing this facility to develop and manufacture those tires that are what we call more relevant.
“When this factory was started, Walmart was one of our existing partners. In the first phase, it was quite natural we transferred in a lot of products” made for and sold through Walmart. “The supply to Walmart is still on. It’s not that we are changing focus."
Phang said that when Giti was discussing its next phase of growth more than a decade ago, "we asked, ‘Where are we in the world?’ In America, we’d been selling for 20 years.
"Common sense tells you that you should have your factory where the market is, so our question was, ‘Where do we build our next major factory?’ A lot of manufacturers were going into Thailand and Vietnam. Some were going into Europe. We said, ‘The U.S. is our major market. We have to build a factory in that market.’
"But beyond just building a factory, we said, ‘What else do we need? We must have R&D in the U.S.' So we (now) have a factory. We have the R&D. And we have to use these resources to keep (developing), so we’ll be more and more relevant to the future market.
"If the market changes, we have to change accordingly. We also have to accept the environment around us today. We are reinventing manufacturing and reinventing the way things can be done. If you are not willing to give up what we call the traditional approach, you’ll get nowhere."
'The right products'
Giti does not have "a lack of customers" in the U.S., according to Phang.
"It’s a question of making our products more relevant and making sure we are able to fulfill (our customers') needs. And their needs are changing because of changing sizes and markets. So we have to work with our partners to realign ourselves.
“Besides Walmart, we have to cater to the needs of the independent players,” he said. “With the coming onstream of more capacity, we’re able to review where we should deploy our resources. We are realigning and reinventing ourselves to make sure we are meeting the needs of our customers. This is the factory where that’s happening."
Giti's dealer customers "are also realigning," according to Phang, "They also have to review the products on their” own screens. And they want to see "more made-in-America products that will be more appealing to end customers This is what we are offering to our customers — products for the North American market."
Getting the drift
This event at Giti's South Carolina plant also included a drifting display during which customers rode along with drivers. (Last December, Giti renewed its partnership and supply agreement with the Formula Drift series for another three years.)
“Motorsports is a technology development platform," said Phang. "It (also) helps bring out the best in our people. It’s driving changes” and helping Giti “meet new challenges.
"Over the years, we have developed a lot of technology and have (infused) a lot of our race tire technology into our everyday tires. You can fast-track testing because in motorsports, you are pushing tires to the limits. No normal, everyday driver will be able to subject a tire to this sort of stress."
