Prinx Chengshan Tire North America Inc. is celebrating its first five years of growth and also paving a path for continued expansion as it seeks more dealers to distribute its two value tire brands.
In the last two years alone, Prinx Chengshan has nearly quintupled the number of tire dealers selling its Prinx and Fortune brands — from 11 to 54. And the product offerings of both brands are on a rapid expansion plan, too, with both new tread patterns, as well as added sizes to current lines.
The company launched its newest tires — a pair of all-terrain tires — the Prinx HiCountry AT2 and the Fortune Tormenta AT2 — during an anniversary celebration with dealers in late- July.
Both of the new tires will feature more sizes than the company's existing all-terrain products and as Prinx Chengshan updates its lineups, it’s also offering distinct tread patterns for each brand, rather than selling carbon copies with different brand names on their sidewalls.
Ken Coltrane, vice president of product development and marketing, said both new tires will be available for orders during the 2024 SEMA Show, with delivery to North American dealers expected in February 2025.
Coltrane said both tires were designed to answer a demand from dealers — that the all-terrain product have a more aggressive tread and sidewall. Both tires will expand from 29 skus to 41 SKUs in both metric and LT sizes. Eleven sizes will have options for outlined white lettering on the sidewall. The full line will be 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake-certified. Both the Prinx HiCountry AT2 and the Fortune Tormenta AT2 will carry a 50,000-mile warranty.
So why is the company waiting to take orders until November? Samuel Felberbaum, president of Prinx Chengshan Tire North America, said molds for each size are still being built.
Coltrane added that each mold is also individually tested before production begins. The tires for both brands will be made at Prinx Chengshan’s Thailand factory.
An international overview
Michael Chu, CEO of Prinx Chengshan North America, is also general manager of Prinx Chengshan’s international business. He provided a global overview of the Chengshan Group, which established its Rongcheng Rubber Factory in 1976 in China. It focused on the Asian market through 2004 and in 2005, expanded through strategic alliances, including one with Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. that continued until 2015.
It wasn’t until 2016 that the company’s international expansion began, which included the founding of its North American business in 2019.
Chu said the company now has two production sites — one in China and another in Thailand, plus three research and development centers around the globe. In 2023, Chu said the company had total sales of $1.4 billion.
“We continue to grow in both sales and production,” Chu said.
The factories have a combined capacity of 23 million passenger tires and 10 million truck tires, plus one million bias products and 50,000 off-the-road tire products. As of two years ago, the company also produces air springs and has capacity for one million pieces.
Globally, Chu says the company has more than 2,000 distributors selling products in 169 countries.
Offering a broad reach
While the Prinx team is working to add dealers to its distribution network, Felberbaum said the company is also investing in marketing both the Prinx and Fortune brands with a two-fold goal: "To increase sales of the brand for you (the distributor) and your customers in a profitable manner. And we want to increase brand awareness.”
He noted that the brands offer a practical solution.
“We meet 95% of the needs for the PLT and TBR markets respectively."
The brands also have a S/T tire, too.
For the Prinx brand, marketing has aligned itself with the United Soccer League (USL). Prinx is the official tire partner of the USL and as part of that agreement, there are opportunities to schedule USL dealer days. The first one is on the calendar for July 31.
The Fortune brand has gone all-in on pickleball and is the exclusive tire partner of USA Pickleball. Felberbaum said the players and enthusiasts of the sport represent “an untapped market,” with participants who travel by car to compete in tournaments.
Happy with 3PMS options
Ray Van Veen is the inventory manager for Trail Tire Supply, a wholesaler that serves western Canada, including its own Trail Tire retail stores. Van Veen says Trail Tire has been a Prinx customer for three years and so far carries the brand’s light truck and commercial truck products in its six warehouses.
“We haven’t gone into the passenger yet. We will once they get all size of the all-weather tire,” he said, referring to the Prinx HiSeason 4S, which was introduced at the 2023 SEMA Show. The next two phases of size offerings are expected in 2025.
Van Veen said he likes that every size of the new all-terrain tire, the HiCountry AT2, will have the 3PMS symbol, as that’s an important selling point in his market. “In our world, all-season is on the way out. All weather is the new (normal).”
But he said the move by consumers from tier-one and tier-two products to lower-tiered tires is real and has been a sustained trend since the pandemic, so he sees a need and a market for value-priced products.
Van Veen said customers are satisfied with the Prinx offering. “Once we get customers on the product, they’re on it. The name is a little different.”
