Prinx Chengshan intends to localize production in North America

Prinx Chengshan, which has factories in China and Thailand, is considering localizing production in North America, said Chu Xiaohua, the director of international market sales for the Chinese tire manufacturer.

According to him, Prinx Chengshan considers North America one of the world's most important markets, and localizing production will help meet growing demand and increase the company's competitiveness. Before starting such a project, Prinx Chengshan plans to expand its presence in the US by building distribution centers in the country, scheduled for 2025. Currently, tires are mainly supplied to the local market from a plant in Thailand, but transporting products over long distances takes 30-40 days, and opening several of its own distribution centers in the US will help reduce delivery times, improve logistics efficiency, and "optimize supply chain management".

The headquarters of the company's North American division (Prinx Chengshan North America) is located in Los Angeles, and the local market mainly offers tires under the Prinx and Fortune brands with different product lines and marketing models.

Chu notes that both brands are becoming increasingly well-known among American consumers, and the company is also actively developing the Canadian market, for which new tires are being created, adapted to local climatic conditions. In particular, over the next two years, the company plans to introduce new winter tires in the country, and it also intends to meet demand in the all-weather tire segment.

Currently, as Chu said, Prinx Chengshan already has 54 permanent customers in the US, and it is expected that in 2024, the growth in their number will be double-digit. The company supplies passenger and truck tires to the country, and in the future, it plans to establish the export of tires for special equipment. Currently, OTR tires are produced at a plant in China, and Prinx Chengshan is "fully ready to bring them to the North American market".

Previously, Triangle and Sentury tried to build their own plants in the US, but both projects were eventually frozen, meaning that so far, no Chinese tire manufacturer has been able to do so. At the same time, two tire companies from China — ZC Rubber and Sailun — are currently building tire plants in Mexico.